Testing The True Nature Of People And Dogs

Submitted by tony on Wed, 10/20/2010 - 13:32.

ALLONS ENFANTS DE LA PATRIE...

Hi folks, for those of you who may be unaware, here in France there have been national strikes for the last few weeks, with people taking to the streets protesting about the plans to raise the retirement age by 2 years.

It's affecting our dogs too! Friends of mine were in the car with their dog who is nervous around loud noises, when they were slowed down by a group of protesters in the road, handing out leaflets.

At the precise moment they stopped, somebody in the crowd let off a flare. This caused the poor dog to fly into the footwell of the car, in fear for his life. Now there was a time when his reaction was much, much worse, but fortunately his owners, having taken on board the Dog Listener approach are much better at dealing with it than before, and his trauma was short-lived.

The other thing that has struck me has been the panic-buying of petrol over the last few days, as the refineries are blockaded. It shows only too clearly how quickly humans will go into "survival" mode when there is a sudden doubt in the availability of something important.

I'm sure you've witnessed this phenomenon in the lead up to Christmas, when in the rush to get as much food as possible in for the festive season, the aisles turn into a scene from Mad Max... I'll never forget the sweet, little old lady who rammed me with her shopping cart to get to the milk first!

You've probably heard me say that in all of the Natural world, we denied one animal its true nature - the dog. However, I have changed my mind. I now include people. Society is a bit like wallpaper put over a crack in the wall - it may hide what is there, but it's still there just below the surface.

For an example of how the nature of these two animals are ignored, check out the article below about the previous French president - funny how at the end of it the dog was fine, even though the reason for its "depression" was still not resolved.