I'm sorry, Fido doesn't like you, you gotta go

I've heard it a lot of times: "dogs are a good judge of character". I've also read and heard stories about how dogs can sense if you're a good person or not. Well, in the spirit of Penn and Teller, whom I've been watching lately, I'd like to suggest that all of this is just bullshit.

Let's start with the beginning... Why people say dogs are a good judge a character here in Romania has a lot to do with the fact that a dog's traditional "job" here is to guard the house. That means barking at strangers who might or might not want to break in and rob the house. This is how they are trained and that is what they would do. There are dogs that bark as a warning, even if you're just passing in front of the fence.

My dad taught me long ago not to be afraid of dogs and how to deal with guard dogs in particular. He told me that they do bark while inside the yard, but outside, they don't have what to protect, so they might be the nicest dogs you know.

When we went to my grandparents' house, the guard dog always barked at us, even if we were always welcome there. After some food and attention, we would become best friends. However, if we came back after a longer absence, the dog still barked at us.

Another example I would like to give is that here, there are a lot of gypsies and dogs are said to bark at gypsies. Now, gypsies are a bit discriminated against, as being vulgar, maybe violent and not caring much about personal hygiene. You can't generalise about an entire ethnicity, but the people that do smell funny often attract dogs' barks.
 

It is said that dogs smell fear. Well, it might be possible that they can smell your sweat when you are afraid, but mostly, they will interpret your movements. There are a lot of signs that give fear away.

So, dogs are protective of a place or a person or other dogs or simply suspicious of a smell or odd behaviour. Do all those things say anything about our character? I guess not. Here is a little article you can read on this subject: Dogs as Judges of Character.

Hey, buddy, that's my tail!

I wrote about this because of a heated discussion on Facebook about a person whose dog was jealous of their new boyfriend. A lot of people advised them to dump the boyfriend for the simple reason that the dog was jealous and maybe protective.

Take care and please research what you preach.

Did you hear that whisper?

You know the "whisperers", people who claim they are in tune with a less understood type of creature and are able to understand their language. They had the Ghost Whisperer and the Dog Whisperer and somehow it has become quite a fad.

I've had someone say "oh, I'm a dog whisperer" and, a little later on, suggest using a shock collar on Aschiuta. What dog whispered that to them?
 

What did you say pooch? You like the new dress?

It makes me wonder just how much of the "whispering" is real understanding between the human and the animal (let's be serious, ghosts?) and what is misconception. I've heard of a lot of crazy esoteric things about humans and animals.

The truth is, we don't speak the same language. We don't understand barking and, when a dog learns commands, it's the sequence of sounds they learn and an action to perform and maybe even the reward involved. They do not understand the meaning of the words themselves.

There is this nonverbal communication that is truly important. We have to interpret signs and try to understand what each other needs. You know, the usual scratching at the door to go out or whining when something hurts.

It's more than just the dress...

Apart from these obvious signs, people and dogs can have a deeper connection, based on mutual trust and respect. And it's not just dogs, it's also other animals we keep as pets. They are intelligent creatures and they have their own personalities. I tend to sympathise with Aschiuta when she rebels and barks if I don't let her chew on the furniture or steal our socks (she has her own socks to play with).

"No, I don't want to stop chewing the table."

Pets aren't objects you put in a corner to look nice. I'd also argue about unnecessarily dressing up pets, but if it doesn't bring harm or discomfort to them, eh, why not?

I'd like to add one more thing: how you treat your pet and what relationship you have with it. It's based on common sense and respect. I believe that when you have that with your pet, that's the empathy they all talk about.

I read two wonderful posts today that made me realise that some people already have that close bond with their pets. Here they are for you to read them, at 24 PAWS OF LOVE and Paw Print City Times.

Take care and remember, stop "whispering" and start "listening".