Melissa said...
Your description of the saber tail is so vivid. I've seen this "walk" before... many times. I am amazed at how Stormy defers and avoids conflict. I imagine not every male he meets has the same reaction. In the domestic dog life I see every day that stiff, straight tailed male walk is most often countered by the same body language. I would love to see how this is worked out without constraints (NO I don't want to see a dog fight but would rather like to see the lack of fight). I imagine much of this body language prevents fighting rather than encourages it.
Fights do occur especially in breeding season or when interlopers are looking for a spot to live. The older and wiser a street dog gets, the better the use of body language.
The neighborhood dogs learn how to work out their differences. They don’t want to be injured. Even Lance knows when to put that saber down.
Blondie is definitely forceful. I have often wondered if these dogs/bitches that seem to always need to be physical have some underlying lack of confidence. Fear? Weakness? Pain?
In our dogs, I would have to agree about underlying lack of confidence. Blondie is the big bitch on the hill, she is very confident. She thinks all the resources are hers. Except when I’m there, the dogs only know scarcity of resources. Sharing is a new concept for her.
Not sure if there is anything there but it seems that Snow white is so confident even when her body language is complete deferment. She is not looking afraid. She is not doubting the responses she will get with what she is saying. I can't see in the pictures if Snow is actually injured by these "maulings" but I imagine it is not serious and likely never breaks the skin. Otherwise I wouldn't expect her confidence when in close proximity to Blondie. Just some thoughts.
Snow has no broken skin. Dogs can deliver very painful bites with the back molars without breaking skin. Judging by the screams I hear, this is what I think is happening.
Blondie has chased her off many times, but the dogs are fed here. Even if she hasn’t gotten any yet, Snow knows we feed dogs.
In the picture for this post Blondie has Snow pinned, but isn’t biting. Snow doesn’t fight back. Gandhi would be proud.
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