Today I write of many things for several reasons. Today is Wednesday and it has been 14 days since I took the dogs out to do agility anywhere – training or trialling. We leave Thursday the 8th of June for the Nationals in Sydney. I will get some training in on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Who knows if this is enough or not – I mean seriously can one ever get enough training in whilst holding down a full time job? I think not. My head hurts, my nose is running a marathon and my throat and voice have decided that the husky gravely sound with the daggers in the back is the best state to be in. The dogs are fine – fully recovered from their bout of Infectious Tracheobronchitis and bouncing out of their skin to get out and do some training. I’m keeping them away for several reasons 1. Cy is probably still infectious although he stopped coughing 5 days ago. 2. I am paranoid that some mutant strain shall reinfect them before we go. 3. I feel sick and would not be a good trainer right now anyway. So the dogs are ok (she says touching every piece of wood in arm’s length)…I am half way through reading “The Other End of the Leash” by Dr Patricia McConnell. Whilst it does not contain anything surprising and new to me it certainly refreshes my “dog’s mind” perspective. I forget sometimes that these furry creatures are indeed not of the bi-pedal human variety. The expressions they convey sometimes are so subtle yet so clear in their meaning that it is hard to remember they are a completely different species to us. It is a good read though I thoroughly recommend it. The chapter on puppy farmers/mills certainly outraged me suitably and refreshed my determination to see that none of my friends and colleagues patronise these establishments – pet shops have a great deal to answer for with this equation as well.
I was asked today if I had any kids. I gave my reply and the next question was a surprised “How come?” I said “Well I’ve got dogs.” The next question was “So are dogs better than kids?” My answer simply was “Yeah they’re easier to train”. I work with teenagers five days a week – it is enough “nuture” time for me. I do not find myself yearning for that baby at all. Maybe I’m missing a gene but maybe that’s evolution…humans are starting to realise that the planet we live on is not endless in its resources. Someday this planet will no longer be able to sustain life and yet in terms of evolution every single species on this planet comes born with the instinct to reproduce life. To me it seems an obvious paradox. “But” I hear those good Catholics protest, “how will you be able to leave your imprint on the world if not through your children? It is God’s will that you have children.” I’m quite sure that it was God’s will that we don’t go around destroying other species, their habitats and generally exploiting every resource on this planet either. Human beings procreate out of pure selfish motives and there is no hiding that, indeed there is no other reason for procreation and thank goodness for these selfish tendencies of our species or else we would not be the advanced species we are today (and I most certainly would not be here.) Somewhere along the line though if theories of evolution are to be trusted then we will evolve to not have an instinct to produce offspring as that instinct will be our own self destruct button. Species who like to live and thrive will, in a restricted space, will produce only single offspring or not produce any offspring at all. But I digress – this train of thought is kind of getting a little weird.
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