Anthropomorphism and Our Dogs, Pippa and Finian
Anthropomorphism, that’s when people attribute human characteristics to animals. Humans and animals share the same genetic origin and so, share common characteristics. This was an idea postulated by Charles Darwin, later disregarded by scientists who believed “animal behaviour revealed simple mechanical laws that made mentalistic explanations unnecessary.”1 But, lately, scientists believe that animals do have human characteristics. For example, personality has been observed in birds, horses, cats, and, of course, dogs.
May I introduce our own, Pippa and Finian, Finny for short. They are both terriers of the Scottish variety and share a genetic desire to kill small creatures. When one of these creatures climbs a tree or retreats in a hole, Pippa will cry in frustration. Kill. That’s all that seems to be going through her head and Finny isn’t much different.
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| The dogs and us on the trail |
Recently, I had Finian on the leash in the treeless, alpine region of the high mountainside. Suddenly, he had something in his mouth which is never good. Usually, it’s horse poop or a bone that’s been discarded by another animal or hunter. This time though, it was a baby bird. How it got so close to the trail, I don’t know.
Finian knew he shouldn’t have killed the bird, but his natural reaction was to grab it in his mouth. He quickly dropped the bird when he realized that I didn’t want him to have it. That’s because he's a nice guy. He generally wants to please. We can meet other dogs on the trail and Finian can be on-leash or off-leash and he always amiably greets the dog and proceeds with the custom sniffing that begins with the nose and gradually moves to the more intimate parts.
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| They see something |
Pippa is different. She’s a bad girl who we’re always calling a good girl. Wishful thinking, I guess. I don’t believe Pippa would have dropped the bird that Finny had in his mouth. I would have had to pry it from her mouth which would have been disgusting. Fortunately, she’d not as quick or agile as Finny, so is unlikely to have snatched the poor little creature from the side of the trail.
Nor is Pippa a friendly dog. Her most common method of greeting other dogs on the trail is to bare her teeth and snarl. She worse on her lead but it she can be bad off-leash as well. And bare in mind that she’s a tiny dog. Feisty but tiny. (She was named by my wife and daughter after Kate Middleton’s sister who showed off her lovely behind at the Royal Wedding and is known to have a similar characteristic.)
Pippa’s last dog encounter while on the leash was with a rottweiler. Her owner pulled her dog off the trail so that we could pass. Of course, Pippa snarled and snapped and the rottweiler lunged with its owner barely able to hold it back. Unfortunately, this is a relatively common occurrence, petite women with large dogs to whom Pippa takes a disliking.
Finny watching the goldfish in our pond
Off-leash, Pippa usually ignores other dogs only occasionally giving them a haughty moment of interest. The same applies to the owners. In fact, the more attention a human gives Pippa, the more likely she’ll be to ignore them. It’s a different matter if she wants to greet them. Then, she can be quite a pest, like when we’re sitting outside on our patio enjoying a drink and we haven’t put her on a leash. She’ll just sneak off and take herself for a walk.
In his younger years, Finny would take off with her. Now, he doesn’t. He just hangs out with us. Not Pippa. She’s sneaky. She’ll be lying under the couch on the patio, and you’ll think all’s fine and good and suddenly, she’s gone. The houses in our area are not fenced and so, when she runs off, she can visit whoever she pleases. Which she does.
The other day, the neighbour from behind us shouts, “Do you guys have two dogs?”
And Nicola replies, “Yes.”
“I believe one of them’s over here. A brown one?”
“Oh, that’s Pippa,” Nicola replies, and I get up to retrieve her.
“She’s gone out the front,” he tells us. (The front of his house, not ours.)
Obviously, Pippa has tired of him and gone looking for other strangers to greet. I call and, of course, she doesn’t come. I walk out to the street in front of our house with the intention of walking around the block to the front of our neighbour’s house but, there she is, wandering toward our house. Not in a manner that would suggest obedience or remorse for having run away. So, I don’t know whether to reprimand her or praise her for at least giving the pretence of returning home on her own. She’s a very difficult dog.
Pippa may not be discerning as to whom she’ll greet on the street but, to become her friend requires work. That’s what our eldest likes about her. You have to earn Pippa’s friendship but once earned, it’s hard to shake off. Whenever a friend of ours visits, she’ll curl up to him on the couch, not because he makes a fuss about her, but just the opposite. He sits, she snuggles and, occasionally, a hand will reach down to give a pat, perfectly content in one other’s company.
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| When we're not around Pippa will hang with Finny |
Ironically, Pippa seems to need people more than Finny. When one of us must go back to the house to retrieve an item before continuing on our walk, Pippa will sit herself down on the path and not move until the other person returns. Finny’s got more important things on his mind than worrying about you. When off-leash, he will return to us if called unlike Pippa who will come when she’s good and ready.
If Finny sits beside you, it’s because he wants attention. And he will demand it. He will nag you with scratches and nose butts to pet him. When you do pet him, his nose will point toward the sky and he’ll squint his eyes like he’s in heaven which is nice but, if you stop, he’ll again nudge your arm with his nose or scratch it with his paw and this will continue until you’ve said enough. Because he’s a nice guy, he’ll leave you alone and go and lie in his bed in our closet or look out the window in my son’s room overlooking the street. Unlike Pippa who just likes to hang, no attention required.
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| Finny loves a good fire until we move her away for fear his fur will catch fire |
Pippa and Finny have very different responses to the car. As soon as Finian realizes we are about to have an outing in the car, he’ll jump in as soon as one of us opens a car door. Pippa, on the other hand, must be coaxed and if we have suitcases packed in preparation for an overnight trip, she’ll hide. And we don’t always know where she’s gone. Sometimes, she’ll be under the bed which requires two people to extricate her because, if you go to grab her from one side, she’ll move to the other. She’s also been known to hide under the clothes hanging from the lower rack in our walk-in closet, which was clever, until we discovered her secret.
Pippa as a puppy
Finny as a puppy
Once in the car, Finian must sit against the passenger-side door, and he’ll look until the window watching the world go by. Occasionally, he falls asleep but he’s always calm. Pippa will stand with her hind feet on Nicola’s legs and her front paws on the dashboard and she’ll wag her tail and get ridiculously excited. This makes sense if we’re going for a hike or, in the past, out to the beach. But this isn’t always the case and when she realizes she’s in for a long drive, she’ll lie on the floor or, more recently, attempt to get under the driver-side seat. Practically impossible but she’ll cry if anything is in her way.
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| Pippa in position looking out the front of the car |
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| Finny beside Nicola looking out the side |
Pippa also learns tricks quickly and easily. She can sit, play dead, high five, shake a paw, say please, lie down and stay, and she can dance by walking on her hind legs in a circle. She could learn more tricks if I made the effort, but I don’t. Finny’s trick repertoire is considerably more limited. He can sit, shake a paw, say please, and, with some modelling from Pippa, can lie down and stay. That’s it. I’ve tried to teach him high-five but, either he doesn’t understand my directions, or he feigns ignorance.
Finny also doesn’t ask to go outside or come in. By ask, I mean bark or whine or scratch at the door, something to get our attention. In the winter, I set the timer when I let him out so I don’t forget and he ends up freezing to death. Making her desires known is no problem for Pippa. She’ll bark and whine to go in or out. She’s bold while Finny’s shy. Finny doesn’t like to interfere or inconvenience while Pippa could care less. Some may accuse Finny of stupidity but I like to think otherwise.
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| Finny loves the water, no matte how cold |
Whatever the case, we love them both for who they are, no matter their personal characteristics. And, I might be accused of anthropomorphism, attributing human characteristics to animals but I think I’ve made a pretty good case that our dogs, although both terriers of Scottish descent, have very different personalities. Their behaviour is not the result of simple mechanical laws that make mentalist explanations unnecessary. That’s just silly.
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Waffle day |
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