Pet

Today

There's been a distressing spate of stories recently concerning pet dogs involved in killing babies or children. It makes one pause and think about the way we handle dogs as "pets" and how, when we seem to be more protective of our children than ever, that this happens so tragically often. Some say that the dogs are stimulated to aggression by baby's cries or hands flapping about; who knows? - and it's not really the point.

Walking up the lane this morning I greeted a man who was attempting to walk his tiny dog. "I'd like to say 'hello'", I said to the animal "But I don't like being jumped up at." "He's only six months old", explained the owner, pulling the puppy away from me. "It took ages to teach my dog not to jump up", I remarked consolingly.

In My Day

Caspian the dog came into our lives in 1984. He was about two years old and was exuberantly delighted to have found a new home and family. The first time we came home having left him behind, he greeted us with joy, bouncing up to each of us in turn. Six year-old Becky was rather frightened by this and screamed and jumped back.

It did, indeed take us a long and tedious time to train Cas out of jumping up at us, but Becky had a different perspective on this habit. After we'd had Caspian for a couple of weeks, she rather dolefully said to me one day "Cas doesn't like me as much as the he does the rest of you". "Sure he does", I replied "What makes you think that he doesn't?" "Well, he never jumps up at me when we come home", was the reply.

"That's because you screamed the first time and he knew you didn't like it." In fact Caspian never, after that first scream, jumped up at any small child; he was perfectly aware that it signalled distress and that he shouldn't do it. 

In the fifteen years we owned Cas I never once saw him snap or display irritation at small children, no matter how much they cried or accidentally slapped him in the face.

We do need to think about exactly why people feel the need to acquire enormous animals which are often confined in small houses and under-trained and exercised. That doesn't stop me from feeling saddened for the children who lost their lives and for families who had to learn the lesson in such a hard way.