A Revelation about Holly
June 13th, 2019
By Vijaya Sundaram
June 13th, 2019
By Vijaya Sundaram
I had a revelation about my dog today (one of many revelations in the course of the past few years).
Holly sometimes likes to walk into any dog-populated area with either a ball or a stick in her mouth. I used to think this was her way of signalling to other dogs that she wanted to be left alone because she was feeling unsociable.
Today, over an hour or so ago, I finally took her outside after her long day of boredom (she doesn’t like the rain). She picked up a tennis ball that was lying around in the oppressive darkness. (She doesn’t like going out in the dark, unless it’s our backyard.)
I wondered why she bothered with a ball, since we weren’t going out to play.
Well, we walked up and down the grassy median strip opposite, where she dropped her ball for a few minutes to attend to a certain call. After she did her doggy duty, she picked up the ball, and walked back home with me.
It dawned on me carrying the ball in her mouth wasn’t just about telling other animals to leave her alone because she didn’t want to socialize (since there was no animal to be seen). It wasn’t that, at all.
It was that she wanted to look fierce. Because, if she was carrying something in her mouth, it meant that she had killed it, and that no one would dare mess with her, because of her victim (the ball) in her mouth.
I’m amazed I never thought of that until today.
Yes, and I know you were deeply interested in my revelation, right?
Haha!