This post is part of the McGreevy seminar series. Click here for the index.
McGreevy spoke about some of the demands dogs face in the current era, and explained that these issues are considered in more detail in his book A Modern Dog’s Life.
Basically, McGreevy asks us to appeal to the types of things dogs have to ‘put up with’ in the modern world. The difficulties of dogs in the 21st century are far different to those of their ancestors.
Dogs have to deal with physical barriers in the modern era.
We have co-evolved, so in a way, we exploit each other, and dogs do cope quite well considering what we do to them. For example:
Dogs are expected to get in and out of cars. The car is a noisy machine that suddenly transports dogs to a entirely different destination, in which dogs are then expected to cope with.
Dogs experience man-made boundaries and barriers. There are no doors or fences ‘in the wild’.
Dogs walk on man-made surfaces.
Dogs tolerate us touching them in ways other dogs never would. We touch dogs around the neck. We stare them in the eyes. We hug them.
Clearly, there are hosts of stresses for ‘modern dogs’ that need to be considered in studying dogs. He appealed for applied ethology – ethology that considers human-dog interactions.
This train of thought made me think about the kind of stresses I place on my dogs, without even realising it. I expect my dogs to tolerate me exiting through a door – barriers like this, and ‘pack members’ leaving like this, is quite unnatural. (For the most part) they don’t attack brooms, the poop-scoop, or other items, even though they are normally displeased about their presence. I clip their nails! I keep a bird in a cage that they have to ignore. All really unnatural behaviours that our dogs, by miracle of being dogs, have learnt to deal with.
What have your dogs learnt to deal with, that their ancestors surely didn’t?
This post is part of the McGreevy seminar series. Click here for the index.
How true–we do put stressors on our dogs with our everyday life. Sage’s biggest one here lately is going to certain dog parks where she’s overwhelmed with too many dogs in one place.
I think a lot of people underestimate how stessful dog parks are. For most dogs, they don’t actually enjoy meeting many dogs on a daily basis. Dogs normally like the dogs they ‘know’, like their family and maybe occasional visitors, but in general, interacting with strange dogs is a stressful event for them.
The only dogs who really enjoy dog parks are ‘rude’ dogs who have little social skills and just want to play with all dogs. Assuming that only other rude dogs are there, then a good time will be had by all.
I like this post. You’ve really got me thinking. I know I do put many stressors on Rumpy. A dog like him really isn’t ideally suited to city life, and yet it beats the alternative for him.
I think a perfect life is almost unattainable. Dogs are always going to be stressed by things. Dogs living in the ‘wild’ will be stressed by having to find their own food, and dogs in a home will be stressed by barriers and doors. We will never have a stress-free life for our dogs, but hopefully if we acknowledge stresses, we can perhaps make life the best we can do.
Interesting post. I think of the urban dog who has to adapt to a concrete environment. And may rarely see grass or the woods.
Ann, you’re right, dogs rarely get to experience ‘nature’ as it were, or do so in limited ways. Around my home, about half of their exercise area is concrete/pavers. I wonder if our human fascination with hard surfaces in some way has bearing on some of the joint problems our canine friends face?
It’s something we don’t usually think about because this is the way humans and dogs have interacted all of our lives, but we do put a lot of stress on them in ways we don’t realize. Bongo would love to run free, but I know his safety depends on my keeping him leashed.
Hi BongoDogOwner. I agree, we don’t often think about how we interact with dogs. It is, indeed, ‘taken for granted’. I know what you mean about dogs ‘running free’ – I have some areas where I feel that it’s safe to have my guys off lead, but I am often worried about other dogs or about my dogs pursuing rabbits – terriers!
I think everything you said plus me in general! I know sometimes I am the biggest stress-er to them. I’m definitely going to give this more thought! Happy blog hopping.
Yes, people are stressful too! I think we underestimate our role in eliciting stress in our animals. At the very least, we must smell pretty intense when we’re stressed, and this is sure to ‘rub off’ on some level.
You definitely got me thinking on this one. Most true, but then I was also thinking we do the same to ourselves these days. So many unnatural behaviors, boundaries, physical discomforts despite “the modern age”. We and our dogs are stressed!
I guess we’re all stressed! Maybe we are more attuned and willing to admit stress ‘these days’.
You are right, they do adapt to so much. The one I feel worst about lately is my senior dog putting up with having a couple of young, energetic foster dogs around when he would rather just rest and have all human attention for himself.
And I agree with the discussion on dog parks–dogs are social beings, but less social than we often force them to be!
Fostering dogs is hugely stressful for resident dogs. I think some dogs do ‘get used to it’, of making friends and losing friends again, but I don’t think that it stops being stressful. My house has a lot of comings and goings in the dog department, and I treat each new foster and each of my existing residents on a case-by-case basis.
I think the stress my dogs experience for this cause is probably ‘worth it’ for the good we are doing in rescue, but if I had a different combination of dogs, then this might change, and I may have to look at different ways of supporting rescue.
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