{"id":36963,"date":"2011-04-13T18:53:35","date_gmt":"2011-04-13T23:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=36963"},"modified":"2011-04-14T11:37:46","modified_gmt":"2011-04-14T16:37:46","slug":"quax-and-maya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/daily-astrology\/quax-and-maya\/","title":{"rendered":"Quax and Maya"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Quax, left, and Maya -- the parents of Icha. All are part of Eagle Valley Search Dogs, a volunteer search and rescue team serving the Hudson Valley and many surrounding areas. Photo by Eric.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

from All Dogs Need Jobs<\/strong> from one of our annual editions<\/a> —<\/p>\n

People think they know their dogs, or know something about dogs in general. I think that because dogs are in touch with their instincts, most of them know more than most people. I would offer that the first thing you need to know about dogs is that they all need jobs.<\/p>\n

Your dog already knows this. You can tell because she growls or barks when she hears a suspicious sound. Do you think she’s doing this to entertain herself? Nobody had to explain it to her or train her to do it (this is the definition of an instinct). It may sound like common sense, but humans need to be reminded: responding to strange sounds has the single purpose of protecting you and your family. The sound of your dog growling could be the sound that saves your life.<\/p>\n

Plenty of dogs get yelled at for keeping an eye and ear on things, representing a threat of exclusion (which for a pack animal is a pretty severe form of punishment). However, I suggest that this be the first job you give your dog, and when she starts barking, thank her for paying attention and hearing things that you can’t; then if she expresses that fine enthusiasm for all things at which dogs excel, explain it’s okay, she can stop now. It’s not that the Boston Strangler is necessarily on your front doorstep; the point is that somebody is paying attention, and that’s rather helpful here on Planet Fog.<\/p>\n

Dogs want nothing more than to be part of the human experience, to be part of the collective life they perceive around themselves. They want and need to be useful. This is a feeling that can at times be quite alien to humans, who claim to abhor being “used.” I propose that dogs offer the lesson that we all need to be used, as in useful.<\/p>\n

Most breeds of dogs were developed for some kind of work. Whether it was catching rats or hunting foxes; retrieving quail or keeping a herd of 100 cattle in line; dogs are born with a sense of purpose, and if you’ll notice from their various job descriptions, that sense of purpose is vital to the human community. It usually involves survival. A dog whose genetic code makes him accustomed to working 12 hours a day on a ranch is going to need somewhere to invest that energy and, more important, the sense of participation in human life he would get from being responsible for all those cows.<\/p>\n

Since life in Western civilization offers most dogs few opportunities to express anything resembling their original purpose, that leaves them searching for something to do. And as a result, many turn strange or get nervous. We need to be creative at finding them something vital to occupy themselves with, and that something should always involve the common good. Dogs tend to be excellent at cooperating with one another and with people, and they need that sense of cooperation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from All Dogs Need Jobs from one of our annual editions — People think they know their dogs, or know something about dogs in general. I think that because dogs are in touch with their instincts, most of them know more than most people. I would offer that the first thing you need to know … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36963"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}