Dogs when approaching a strange dog, may find it useful to show by
their movements that they are friendly, and do not wish to fight. When
two young dogs in play are growling and biting each other’s faces and
legs, it is obvious that they mutually understand each other’s gestures
and manners. There seems, indeed, some degree of instinctive knowledge
in puppies and kittens, that they must not use their sharp little teeth
or claws too freely in their play, though this sometimes happens and a
squeal is the result; otherwise they would often injure each other’s
eyes. When my terrier bites my hand in play, often snarling at the same
time, if he bites too hard and I say GENTLY, GENTLY, he goes on biting,
but answers me by a few wags of the tail, which seems to say “Never
mind, it is all fun.” Although dogs do thus express, and may wish to
express, to other dogs and to man, that they are in a friendly state of
mind, it is incredible that they could ever have deliberately thought
of drawing back and depressing their ears, instead of holding them
erect,—of lowering and wagging their tails, instead of keeping them
stiff and upright, &c., because they knew that these movements stood in
direct opposition to those assumed under an opposite and savage frame
of mind.
Again, when a cat, or rather when some early progenitor of the species,
from feeling affectionate first slightly arched its back, held its tail
perpendicularly upwards and pricked its ears, can it be believed that
the animal consciously wished thus to show that its frame of mind was
directly the reverse of that, when from being ready to fight or to
spring on its prey, it assumed a crouching attitude, curled its tail
from side to side and depressed its ears? Even still less can I believe
that my dog voluntarily put on his dejected attitude and “_hot-house
face_,” which formed so complete a contrast to his previous cheerful
attitude and whole bearing. It cannot be supposed that he knew that I
should understand his expression, and that he could thus soften my
heart and make me give up visiting the hot-house.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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