Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: RE: cats: the real extreme position

[Klio.Net/Logomancy/FandomTV (logomanc]

At 11:40 AM -0700 8/30/01, Elizabeth Stevenson wrote:
> Just for philosophical yucks, consider this question. Dogs are social
> animals and require a hierarchical system in order to feel comfortable. Does
> treating them as inferior make them slaves to humans, or are we simply
> making life easier for all involved when they know their "place"? I
> personally have never owned a dog, mostly because they smell bad, but also
> because I hate the whole master/dog relationship.

But it's not a master/dog relationship (or needn't be) -- it's pack 
order, which is a very different thing, and the comparison is as 
off-kilter as, say, considering children the slaves of their parents 
(although when I was about 13 I might have argued differently -- but 
I digress). Even the bottom wolf of the pack serves an important 
function for the group's well being. I couldn't possibly live without 
dogs, which is probably why I've ended up with one of the most 
pack-oriented breeds (a Malamute). The dog even has her own clear 
idea of where the cat (it was me or euthanisation, so I am now a cat 
owner) fits into the pack structure.

I'm very concerned about finding a cohousing situation in which my 
dog (as I am "her" human) and any foster dogs I'm caring for will be 
welcome to be well-behaved versions of themselves. Actually, after 
some community-searching and much soul-searching, I've reached the 
point where I know what I'm going to be involved in will be a new 
community (if any of us here take that first leap of commitment), 
rather than retrofitting myself into one that's already established.

Many thanks to the list for an important reminder of the issues that 
must be incorporated into the founding of any cohousing community....

Carol,
usually just a lurker
(and you know, clean dogs smell no worse than clean people -- less 
perfumy stuff under their armpits, though....)
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"I am not mad--only a poet." R. L. Stevenson
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