Learning About Dogs

Shortly, we'll be back in Illinois running our dog facility. My life as a dog trainer, kennel operator seems so surreal right now.
It is always fun to apply what I've learned from the Puerto Rican island dogs to our day care dogs. I am eager to play with pet dogs again. 

This morning as Kirt, my husband & I were having coffee on the veranda; he asked why it was so important for me to learn about what these dogs were doing and write about it. My dear most patient man would prefer more time at the beach or taking photos of plazas. 
Why? It's fascinating to learn how dogs organize themselves when left to their own choices. How dogs establish rank/status largely without fighting is so interesting. That Blondie regularly walks about a mile to visit a yellow female that looks to be related, OMG, that is interesting.
In studies that I've read about with groups of dogs researchers controlled the resources, which means the dogs were fed on a regular basis. 
Here I see how the dogs are handling the scarcity of resuorces. I think watching free ranging dogs tells us a bit more about the essential dog.
The spot where Stormy, Blondie & Bonita lives supports two dogs, not three. Do puppies move on or die?  
By learning more about the situations that create and how dogs resolve conflict on their own, we can learn better ways of handling conflict with our pets.
Mothering styles is something I'd like to look into on future trips. When did it go from Blondie nuturing her daughter to Bonita being another competitor for food? Was she always a parsimonious with the resouces? Survive first then reproduce is a natural law. How these mothers do it is the interesting part. 

I hope I've helped you visualize the dog life here.  So often Mel's questions or comments have quided the subject of the day; thanks for the feedback. If you find it interesting or have questions, please let me know.

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers for our Sadie. Dog people have so much heart.