Attending my first "official" canine behavior college course. I believe I'm 16 in the photo taken by a very good friend. A very long time ago.
I can't remember when I wasn't drawn to dogs. As a very young child I just loved them. At nine years old I had no idea how involved the species was, it was just a love that I had for them. Now at fifty five my love for them has grown and changed. I am passionate about canine behavior as I always write about, I could watch it from sun up to sunset and beyond.
From just wanting to be around the canine species to loving the aspect of communication of dogs. It has always been there, even when I didn't know what it all meant. The more I learn about dogs; the more I want to know.
Canine interactions with the same or different species is where my heart is. How dogs interact with their own kind, humans, cats, horses or anything else. Knowing what the smallest of head tilts, tail swing, visual glance or vocalization allows me a glimpse inside the dog.
I love the outside of dogs, but it is the inside where my passion lies. I care not about the size, color, coat type or body structure when it comes to my passion for dogs. I wish that humans had not ruined so many breeds (but that's a whole other blog) giving them their functional body back. I have a keen eye for proper body structure which I can't seem to shut off. Look at a wolf to see the true resemblance of structure that dogs should possess.
It is their mind and amazing ability to communicate without any or very little vocalization that intrigues me. Each and every dog has this ability, some more than others of course just like humans. Dogs do not lie; that alone makes them far superior to humans. A dog will always communicate what they are feeling unless they have somehow been broken. Humans tend to misread dogs, putting our human understanding of emotion onto them. This is our downfall as humans, not the dogs who are communicating incorrectly.
Dogs fascinate and amaze me. From the most minimal of body gestures to a full blowout of behavior they are communicating. If you are not watching for behavior then most miss the really subtle parts. These slight movements make the canine an exquisite communicator. Can anyone learn to see these faint communications? Yes, most definitely. But not everyone on has a passion for it, like anything else. Dogs are my spirit, they are not everyone's zest of life and there in lies the difference.