2 Nov 2013 Digger is a red grizzle (referring to his colour)
and, as you saw from his photo is previous blogs, he is grey, brownish-red and
black. He weighs about 10 kilograms (22
pounds or 1 stone, 8, depending on where you live!) and is considered to be a
small dog. The thing about Digger is that, mentally, he is a big dog. I’m sure when he looks in a mirror he sees himself
as an enormous an Afghan Hound, a Spanish Canary Dog or even possibly an English Mastiff.
Why do I think he thinks he’s so big? When we are walking in the morning
and we come upon other dogs, he crouches down on his legs, with his belly
touching the ground, so as to make himself nearly invisible. In fact, because
of his colour, he is quite un-seeable on the muddy path. He remains very still as the dog approaches.
Is this dog a friend or a foe?? He waits, waits, and waits some more.
Then, when the other dog is near enough,
Digger springs up, surprising the dog with his gargantuan size. Well,
gargantuan in Digger’s mind anyway. He
goes from nearly invisible to, voila, a standing, tall, statuesque big (little)
dog. It doesn’t matter whether the
approaching dog is a big or small breed.
Digger must first assess the approaching dog (from a position of invisibility)
then springs his surprise from a position of height.
Then he does, what I call, the ‘meet and
greet’ dance. With tales wagging, the
two dogs start to sniff each other’s back side to ascertain whether or not they
know each other. Once this is
established, they either remain playing. Or they move on, because one or the
other or both do not like the smell or they don’t feel comfortable or they feel
threatened. Sometimes, he takes a
dislike to a dog because he smells aggression or fear. When this happens, the
atmosphere gets tense, and I know Digger and the other dog will possibly have a
fight to sort out who’s the top dog.
I’m not a dog nor an animal behaviouralist,
but it seems to me that this ritual is a great leveller amongst dogs and
establishes whether or not they will be friends or not. Big or small, dominant
or submissive, friend or foe, you sniff each other’s privates and there is
nothing to hide and no secrets. Once you’ve
sussed out the other’s stinky parts, you can decide whether you want to be
friends or not.
As an older dog, Digger has smelled his share of stinky parts. And yet, he still loves the meet and greet. He still loves to get to know new dogs, have a little run around, be part of a crowd of dogs who are romping in the field. He still wants to explore. The stinky bits don’t seem to have put him off. Yes, there are some dogs he lets pass by. I’m not sure why (I really can’t be inside his head!) but he is cool with most dogs he meets. He’s a friendly little dog who sees himself from a position of strength, height, not easily intimidated. He knows who he is, what he is and what he’s capable of. And he doesn’t mind the stinky parts.
Ok, my niece has sent in a photo of Frank and Finley, Digger's cousins. Digger loves these two. They are most definitely friends!
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