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The
Sentient World of Animals
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By would-be initiate Herman Ong,
Penang, Malaysia (Originally in English)My experiences with my dogs, with whom I share my life, have taught me valuable lessons concerning the nature of animal's emotions. About three years ago, I adopted a dog from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and named him Morgan. I showered him with much attention and love, and he was very happy and obedient. One year later, however, during the Chinese New Year holiday, due to the loud noise created by my neighbors' firecrackers, Morgan became disturbed and ran away. As I was very sad, I hunted around and acquired a new dog, and called him Beige, although later I found Morgan and brought him home as well.
Beige was very ugly, while Morgan was a handsome black and tan mixed Alsatian. However, Beige proved to be very obedient and faithful and effectively met my needs - agreeing to eat dry dog food and guarding my house very well, while Morgan wanted only tasty food and was very playful. So naturally, I began showing less and less attention to Morgan and more to Beige. This went on for a while until Morgan began sitting with his back toward me (showing his dislike), and also becoming very nervous and unconfident.
These experiences taught me that dogs have emotional natures just as humans do, and so raising dogs is similar to raising children. During the two years when I showed less consideration to Morgan (due to the fact that I thought dogs do not need much attention), I failed to realize he was observing how much love and care I showered on Beige. Thus slowly, in his years of growth to adulthood, Morgan became nervous and confused and could not understand why I was showing him less and less attention. Like an abandoned child, Morgan felt neglected and, although a dog, was all the while looking up to me like a father (he was a puppy when I acquired him). However, due to the circumstances, I showered a disproportional amount of care on Beige, and this adversely affected Morgan's development, shaping his present personality. Today, Morgan is very nervous and has never understood why he is the less favored one.
The lesson I derived from this experience is that, to a certain extent, dogs can sense and react to emotions and are very sensitive creatures. It would certainly do a great deal of good if all dog owners could care for their dogs equally and treat them with respect, both emotionally and physically. Dogs show many emotions, just like we humans do, for instance, jealousy, anger and confusion. Perhaps when we recall that dogs are also in the reincarnation cycle as human beings are, this is not surprising after all.
