Re: [pyrnet] Canine consciousness

[Christine Hansen <greatpyrenees@att.net>]

Patric said "I never said that dogs were void of emotional behavior,
only that animals do not conjure up emotional behavior based on a
previous experience such as many (most) humans do - envy, revenge, etc"

I had a brand new giant nyla bone in my front yard (before it was
fenced) and a neighbor dog came over and boldly stole it right in front
of me.   I went storming over to his property to retrieve "my" bone and
the dog picked the bone back up and growled viciously at me, daring me
to try and take it back.  What was that? Greedy bold thievery.
I had a Siamese cat who was allowed outside (last time ever
unsupervised).  A very aggressive white tom cat savagely attacked him
before I could get to them.  My cat, who had no clue what meanness was,
became seriously depressed as a result of the attack. He seemed to have
no will to live.   I carried my cat outside in the middle of the night,
to hunt down the evil white tom cat.  When I found him, with my cat
still in my arms, I proceeded to pretend to attack the evil cat,
throwing whatever was handy toward the cat, yelling mean sounding words
at him.  The cat went running for his life and my depressed cat came to
life, beaming with pride that his mom had gotten even, gotten revenge
for him.  There is no mistaking what my cat was feeling and why his
depression vanished in those sweet moments of revenge.  The light came
back in his eyes.
A few weeks later I took the cat for a walk in the middle of the night,
hoping for another mock attack on the tom cat, when a large german
shepard came out of the bushes about 50 feet away.  My sweet little
kitty made a bee line for the dog and the dog went yelping, running for
his life with his tail between his legs.  All the while I was screaming
"NO" but my cat continued to chase him on down the dark street.  My cat
thought he was "saving my life" and his face and body posture said it
all.  He came back to me doing a kind of twinkletoes trot,  beaming with
pride at what he had done.  My little kitty was no coward, but having
been taken by surprise by that tom cat, having never known viciousness,
didn't have time to react appropriately.  He was no doubt also trying to
prove he was not a coward, in addition to wanting to "save my life."
After all, if he could be beaten to a pulp, that big dog was probably
going to do the same to his mistress.  This cat always remained sweet
and gentle and eager to make friends of any animal.
I believe if you are in tune with your animals, have a close
relationship, the proof for just what emotions they have is there.  Of
course you won't see these things if you don't have or want that kind of
relationship.  The proof is there if you are open to see it.  It's even
evident in the wild if your eyes and heart  are open.  Christine