Hi folks, your Dog Listener here, keeping with the topical theme of the recent political activity in Britain (PLEASE don't go just yet!).

Honest, it links in very nicely with an experience in Yellowstone Park while studying the wolves.

On one day out in the park, we were lucky to see what looked at first like two separate packs of three wolves meet over some food.

At first it looked like there would be a confrontation, but what actually happened was much more interesting. The two groups formed one bigger pack almost immediately.

One of the experienced wolf watchers (there are some folk who will go out every day, no matter what the weather - that's love...) informed us that the two groups once belonged to the same pack, but split 6 months previously, and this was the first time they had met up again.

It seems they had decided to put any differences aside for the moment in order to give themselves a better chance.

This can happen in Nature with wolves; temporary coalitions (do you see where I am going with this??) are formed when needs must, and it is for the benefit of the groups involved.

These alliances are not forever, as there may come a point where the differences outweigh the benefits.

Soooooo, in a nutshell, it is no surprise that humans too can form temporary coalitions if it means the greater cause is served.

For example... if a Chelsea player scored the winning goal for England in the World Cup final, I think I would rather that happened than seeing us lose.

Oh, and maybe Mr. Cameron and Mr. Clegg may get along well enough too (getting my priorities in the right order as you can see...).

So getting back to my point - It's yet another way that humans act like wolves.

Tony Knight

Hi folks, it's amazing how just 5 days without Internet contact leads people to believe you've disappeared off the face of the Earth! In fact, I have just finished teaching a Dog Listener Foundation course in Holland, with the largest number of students so far. A fantastic response and it looks like Dog Listening is going from strength to strength in that part of the world.

One of the current members of Team Holland (as I dubbed them 2 years ago) has adopted a wolf at a zoo, and on my free day I accompanied her and other members of Team Holland  to see the resident pack of four brothers.

The enclosure is a decent size, and they share it with several bears.

Of course, the closeness to each other does lead to a pressure cooker effect, where interaction between them is more frequent and closer than would normally be the case, but it was amazing to watch how they were around each other.

Most of the time there was no problem, but one bear - described by our guide as the "pain in the ass mother" (I love how the Dutch speak English) - insisted on making a point, to which the wolves reacted.

Imagine my horror when I started filming, only to quickly realise that my camcorder had run out of battery. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!

Fortunately another member of TH let me use her camera, and I did manage to get some great video footage.

Click on the link to see a great sequence. Those who believe that "wild" means out of control, check out how these "wild" animals sort out their differences...

Cheers, Tony

P.S. The sounds of children are coming from a play area located right in the middle of the enclosure. At least I hope it was a play area, and not a larder!