Lance, the handsome American Staffordshire Terrier, followed the vagrant Snow White into our yard.
Snow White is a yearling lab x pit looking for a spot she where she can exist. She sleeps in the grass along the roads. I’ve also seen her in a rat hunting party.
Rat hunting parties are cool, if you can get past the rat part.
Snow always seems to have some male following, sniffing her butt. It doesn’t seem to matter if she’s in heat or not. Sometimes she has a second male dogging her prince charming waiting for him to go home.
In Puerto Rico dogs scour the countryside looking for a meal much the same way coyotes do in Illinois. The big difference is that dogs are tame.
People feed the feral dogs rather than feeding the rats. Puerto Rican people seem to enjoy the street dogs when their numbers are not burdensome.
Lance brandishes his tail like a saber. At times the saber is the first thing you would notice about him. He exudes confidence. His head is held high. In a group of males in this neighborhood, he is recognizable as the cock of the walk.
Blondie, the big bitch on campus, has Snow pinned. She's telling her how it's gonna be.
You can see where Stormy's head is. Notice his tail position. He is never happy when Lance is around.
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 everyday 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.
ReplyDeleteBlondie is definitely enforceful. 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? 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.