It's a dog's life - if the masters teach them right
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I'm not sure if it's because Yoyo is just that special or if I've uncovered some latent dog whispering talents, but we've found a great and loving equilibrium in our harmonious dictatorship.
Yoyo is a rather large mini red poodle who turns two at the end of the month and has just about mastered the art of life as a dog. This includes dictating my morning and evening routines and mastering a set of commands in both Chinese and English.
But this is a larger story about living and giving; about expectations and limitations. It's about giving voice to aspirations and allowing animals to be what they are.
Pet dogs in China are relatively new, and most dog owners in China are raising their first four-legged friend. There's some obvious inexperience, though the troubled canine-human relationships I see are not unique to China.
Dogs, like humans, really, really like being what they are. Just as humans aspire to live informed lives in communities that value their participation, dogs need to express their vitality by running, sniffing, cuddling - doing what comes natural to them. These are the things that are both common and different between the species.
I've had a few bewildered looks when I've tried to explain to my advice-seeking, pet-owner friends that both humans and canines have physical, emotional and intellectual needs that must be met by those who seek to lord over them.
It seems there are three typical injuries to the psyche that lead to an unfilled life.
There are masters who affect brutal superiority to demand obedience. When this kind of arrogant force is used I see even the most beautiful animal cower and submit. Their lives are lived on the edge of terror and filled with no grace and little comfort. Of course they have no alternative but to stay and accept their fate.
There are also masters who bend reality and are unwilling to embrace diversity. These masters can't accept that even family members can be inherently different. This makes for almost schizophrenic relations where the demands of one are impossible to comprehend by the other.
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