When My Dog Bites My Hand

See how a puppy chooses to accept love over annoyance.

 

Many dogs have the capacity to accept the advanced contact of a child, even an infant without concern for their safety, yet many would snap quickly and bite fingers yielding an enomous amount of pain to the child.  Those dogs with this high functioning understanding of the child’s place in the home versus theirs is an ability that not all dogs possess.  This is a story of the courage one dog who endlessly took hair pulling, head slapping, ear pulling, and just general abuse  apparently understanding its place in the home, and knowing that the human child was far more important to the dog’s owners than it was. Even knowing it was there ‘first’ and should have had priority and earned sufficient merit to have at least earned protection from the actions of the human child. 

Even the best of dogs will be overwhelmed from time to time and take a nip at its protagonist.  You know, enough is enough.  But, some will just sit there and take it. ‘for the team, if you will, because some are ‘team players’.   How they do it day after day, week after week is hard to understand, but they get it done.  I think they know in their hearts that they are fortunate to be in the home to begin with, they are not in their worst environment possible and if they misbehave or don’t accept what is given, for good or for bad, they could be returned to a more devastating environment outside.  They get fed, watered, petted, and given a wonderful environment in which to thrive and they know all that could be gone in a short New York Minute.  So, they endure it.  They accept it.  They gratefully acknowledge their position in our lives and they take whatever comes their way, not for the betterment of the child, but I think they do it because they don’t want to upset the magnanimous nature of their personal benefactor. 

Six years ago, my eighteen month old granddaughter came to visit at the house.  She was an active child and would crawl over and sit herself down right in front of our Dalmatian mix four year old.  Princess was an exception puppy in that she would lie on her pallet and allow my granddaughter to pluck her ears, pop her on the top of the head, and smack her snout.  Princess would lay there and take it for a lon time before she would do anything.  She knew her masters, mostly me, were sitting right there, and she would look up at me for confirmation that she was doing as I required, and I was not alarmed or concerned that she could not accept the baby’s attention.  So, she took it. The last thing she wanted, was to find disapproval in my reaction, or even worse disavowal of her actions. 

Princess had an enormous heart for human children, and she never ever bit my granddaughter, not one time.  But, she did have her options and she would deploy those options in order of severity and concern until she relieved herself of a more hostile child.  It is amazing to me how she had worked it all out in her mind, how she could get relief without upsetting me.  So, here is her options in the sequence she worked them out for herself.  And, they have an order of merit built in as to the degree of response, but she would respond this way every time. 

First, she would just get up off her pallet and move to another place on the pallet just out of reach, and if my granddaughter moved back into position to continue to abuse, she would get up and move completely off the pallet to another side of the room.  If my granddaughter pursued, Princess would get up again and move herself to the side of my feet and lay down there.  Upon arrival at my feet, she would move behind my legs if my granddaughter approached, and even move from behind one leg to behind the other leg if necessary.  Then, she would look up at me with those big brown mournful eyes and beg me for protection.  She would let me pet her and that would make her happy for the time being.  Her next move was to go hide inside her cage.  She was just big enough to get through the door.  She found out quickly though that my granddaughter could still get inside the cage and lay down beside her.  That worked out for a time and often they would both go to sleep side by side, but if my granddaughter was still a bit too aggressive, Princess would get up and go hide behind the couch.  Now this was her final option, and it was harder for my granddaughter to get to her, but if she did pursue her behind the couch, Princess would come to me, and sit down right in front of me and begin to orally beg me to help her.  Her tenuous cries for help would start off as a low grumble, but then progress to a moan, a cry, even a bellow.  She would get quite insistent, and it was so compelling that it was hard to ignore.  A little petting and she was alright.  She was ready to do it all again, just because she got my attention and my affection.  And, that is all she ever wanted under any circumstance.  Just to know that ultimately, she had my love and that she would continue to be able to live there and be fed and watered, provided for that was how she understood her role in the home.  That was how she recognized the ultimate good versus the immediate nexus.  Princess, was a wise puppy for her four short years of life.  She understood  consequences, and understood reward and punishment.  She would accept most any granddaughter abuse, as just being part of her life, but she knew how to accept her fate, and she knew how to survive.  She could be very happy through all that abuse, but at some point she wanted peace, and watching her get that peace was an expose in how the mind of a dog works, and how she would sequentially move around to get that peace and relief.  Watching her was a lesson, not in futility, but in consequence resolution and victory. 

She was great to watch.  And, she was a great asset to our home for the ten years that she lived with us.  In her final few weeks, her heart developed a rapidly increasing murmur, and her ability to breathe was impacted, and she could not lay on her paws and breathe in sufficient air.  She would go into breathing distress and it would become labored.  It was the most hurtful day of my life when we concluded that we could not help her one way without hurting her on the other.  We could only let he go on, so she would not suffer any further.  When thinking back on how difficult it was to those first few weeks with her, to bond with her, it does not register against the level of pain we felt when we had to part.  That is life at its hardest.  Partnering up will ultimately require an end of the partnership.  Nothing lasts forever, and love eventually gives way to the passage of time, but during the ‘dash’ part of a life, love is ALL YOU NEED to survive.  It is all that brings fulfilment to the passage of time and it is all that brings happiness and true reward.  That is why we fill our lives with love and avoid sadness and sorrow as long as we can.  And a pet like Princess helps bring that love, and that happiness.  What a perfect friend and companion a puppy can be.  They can make you laugh a million times and then lay next to you or on your lap and give each you comfort. 

A puppy is a warm, thoughtful bundle of love and affection that just cannot wait to be your best friend, and your constant companion.  They will give you just about anything to have your love and affection, and do just about anything on earth to keep it.  Their hearts are full of gold, and their minds full of joy at the possibility to be your friend.  We have called the dog ‘man’s best friend for a thousand years, a more faithful animal there is not among us that could deny that relationship, or propose a replacement that could do the job better. 

Be generous and kind to your puppy, it will grow up to become your best friend, a friend that is capable of giving you boundless love and affection.  Keep your pet hydrated and fed, warm and content.  That is the least they deserve.  In reality, they deserve so much more.  They deserve our best because they give us their best ALL the time.