The Dog Blog with Kathryn Socie

Dog Risks Life, Saving Another, Revealing Dog Greatness (Yet Again!)

By Kathryn Socie, 12-11-08

As a certified dog person, I’ve been sent the You Tube link to the ‘Dog Risks Life to Save another Dog’ video so many times in the last few weeks I’ve lost count. Each time it comes to me with a message that reads something short and to the point, describing it as:

Unbelievable. Amazing. Who knew a dog would do that? Could do that?

And, truly, the sight of a dog pulling another, injured dog out of highway traffic is a phenomenal display of compassion. Even still, for some reason many people fail to or at least hesitate greatly to assign such an emotion to organisms other than humans.

It appears undeniably altruistic and, to me, it is undeniably dog-like.

In watching it, I initially had to wonder about the nature of the relationship between these two dogs and can only imagine what it is about their connection that inspired this amazingly huge, dangerous gesture. What do two dogs go through together, experience with one another that makes them that close?

But, what if these two dogs didn’t even know each other and I’ve just got this screwed up notion that a dog would only be capable of such an act if there was some special bond and not just…well, just because?

Through many discussions of this stunning display, I’ve discovered that there is apparently a continuum of thought on the subject of the canine emotional capacity and what motivates a non-human animal to such bold actions. One rather academic person conjectured that since these are street dogs (where that tidbit of information came from I have no idea), pack members dependant on each other for survival, the dog wasn’t saving the life of a “friend,” but saving an important resource that assists in the finding and procurement of food, shelter, etc.

To that I can’t help but proclaim: blah!

I’m sure there is some miniscule amount (yes, it is obvious I am not a fan of this theory) of truth to it, but it fails to even begin to touch the hugeness of what this short video reveals and as a life-long dogged person I know at my core and believe (absolutely have to) that there really is something spectacularly profound that connected these two dogs, somehow. In writing that I feel a bit, well, um, a bit religious in my view of dog-dom, and odd in the proclamation, but I can’t help it, darn it, I’m a ‘believer.’

Go ahead, call me anthropomorphic and scoff. But watch it and try and convince me to do anything but believe.

[End of article]

Comment By Taz Alago, 12-12-08

What's more, the same attachment, loyalty and courage has been long observed in other canids, like wolves, coyotes and foxes. Same with elephants. A dig in California a few years ago turned up a preserved skeleton of a sabre-toothed cat that had long-healed injuries which would have made the animal unable to hunt. The surmise is that other cats in the pride fed it, allowing it to live on. The assumption by so many that animals don't share the "noble" attributes of humans is sheer ignorance. Cultures that interact with wildlife daily, like our ancestors, didn't share this ignorance. It's not for nothing that brave warriors were characterized as "lion-hearted." In the West, some of the people most ignorant of the virtues of animals are the trappers, who treat them as contemptible subjects fit only for abuse.

Comment By Jill Kuraitis, 12-12-08

But of course, you are correct. I never bought that "strictly survival instinct" stuff either My lab-chow mix Honeybear has dragged her companion, Sammy, who isn't very bright, out of a swift current, barked maniacally to let me know there was a little kid in the stream, pulled at my pants leg when an elderly person fell in the street outside our house, and developed a distinct bark-twirl routine to signal raccoons in the window. She knows when someone is sick and watches over them. She knows when one of the kids is driving toward the house. She spends her whole life wanting to please me, and it's not for food. I could go on forever. You can't tell me this dog doesn't feel love.

Comment By clem from boise, 12-19-08

Its amazing how noble mans best friend can sometimes be; and yet the next instant they're eating kitty roca out of the litter box or rolling around on a dead squirrel. Dogs! gotta love em.

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