I enjoy a walk through the neighborhood with Mama. Sometimes, as I become winded, I open my mouth revealing my (well cared-for) teeth. When this happens Mama looks at me and says:
"Oh, you're smiling, you're so cute & darling, that makes me so happy, you make me smile too."
At home I contemplate the age-old dog question. Why must human beings anthropomorphize dogs?
We are not human beings and although domesticated, we share very little of their means of communication. For example, humans seem to use their voices excessively while dogs communicate through body language and subtle glances.
Do dogs smile? I suppose it's all in the eyes, and the intentions, & beliefs, of the beholders. Yes, I enjoy the walks with Mama, and on the weekends the special treat, walks with Mama et Papa. But my facial expression corresponds to my elevated heart-beat rate. As a point of information, dogs may work out, but we do not sweat.
I shall ever wonder at the apparent need for humans to believe that dogs share their own characteristic behaviors and emotions. And perhaps I pity them for their incessant desire to find among a higher species shared communication patterns.
2 comments:
Dear Mercury
I should defend from human position, which was criticized by you in the entry. I think that in this communicative process, which was pointed with the Smile issue, the human as a receiver ponders and tries to find a shared sign to continue his communication with a different being. As you know, the smile has a very important situation in human communication, which approximately was understood by people of all the culture. In addition, humans understand you with their emotions. In other language, the words are altered by emotional signifiers, which were appeared in NVCs, in human - animal communication. So, happiness, sadness, fear, and even some complex emotions, such as fidelity, are transferred in dog-man relationship. You should pay attention to the signified area, and its emotional context, not the signifiers. In this way, you can ask from Mama, who is a professor of communication.
Sobhan
Dear Murph:
OK, so you don't smile. But I know I've seen you wink.
Grandpa Lestet
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