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What is the "China syndrome" or "Nuclear melt-down"
that sometimes happens in the brain of our dogs when they hit game. Cj wrote an
interesting point some years ago. Some dogs unconsciously close their ears when
they hit game (point or chase) and we might think that they have got the
"melt-down" in their brain. That is our interpretation, since they do not show
the slightest sign of hearing our commands or whistle, but it may not be
the case with such dogs. They could be completely sober, they just do not hear
anything.
I am thinking of dogs whose emotions are raised by
the sight or scent of game to such levels, so they totally loose control of
themselves. I figure they get intoxicated by all kinds of adrenalins and
hormones that are triggered by the contact with game. I would like to compare
with some young men when they get contact with a lovely, sexy girl. They
can give up their work, money, car, family, you name it, for this
girl.
I also come to think of this man, usually a very
calm and controlled man in everyday life. In one particular situation he
however totally lost control of himself. He used to go seafowling and those who
had been with him said that while waiting for the ducks to come he was still
totally calm but once he saw them he was a danger to all around him including
himself. He started to shoot in every direction and continued to do it until the
ducks had vanished out of sight. Afterwards he was calm and controlled
again. The sight of game stimulated his brain to produce far too much of this
and that hormone and that is precisely what I think happens to some dogs
also.
I knew this man briefly but not enough to know how
he actually was constituted. Humans are far
better in hiding their bad sides than animals are so you got to know a person
very thoroughly before you can say that you really know him. If I knew him
very well today, perhaps I would say that he actually had a poor nerve
stability. Maybe he was rather nervous in many situations but a master in hiding
his weakness?
When we estimate our dogs behaviour we sort of
estimate it against human behaviour. A well mannered dog should do about the
same as a well mannered human partner would do in the same situation. This is
possible because we can train dogs to behave like we want them to behave. We can
train them because they are pack animals like us and basically they have the
same pack structure, behaviour and pack ethics as we have.
Many of our Nordic human pack hunting methods,
moose, deer, boar, are based on guns that are put out on their post
and they are expected to stay there give and take a few meters.
This discipline is crucial for the safety but also for the success of the
drive.
Still there are now and then those who cant
stand still but roam around in either small circles thereby making sure that no
game will come their way, or in large circles and become a danger for themselves
and others. Usually they are not welcome to that shoot/ hunting party anymore.
The reason why they do this is that:
1.They have not accepted to be dominated (in this
case by the hunting leader).
2. They are too anxious to actually understand the
command fully and the different reasons why the command to stay at their post is
given. Hence they are too nervous to be able to trust the leader
unconditionally.
In both cases they brake the rules for different
reasons but in neither case do they brake the rules because the have too much of
prey drive.
Can you find the similarities to dogs?
Torsti
There are similar dogs that never can learn to
cooperate
Borta Med Vindens Kennel "Ask not what your dog can do for you. Ask
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