| Year Fourteen |
| Compassion and Sympathy (as well as protection) are two main emotions I have seen Hazel show towards me. One winter, I decided to take Hazel for a walk, even though I wasn�t feeling well earlier that day. I hate wreaking a pattern of walking for Hazel each day, for it is so hard to get back into. I started to walk, and didn�t get far before it started to snow really heavily. I became to feel sick once again, dizzy this time, extremely dizzy. The snow was so thick, and blinding, it didn�t help at all. The next thing I remember was Hazel whining, and pulling at the lead. I was lying in the snow, I must have collapsed. I used Hazel to sturdy myself, and pulled myself to my feet. I was still dizzy, and the trees seemed as if to be spinning. I held tight onto the lead and told Hazel the �Home� command. The walk home is a blur to me still, I remember waking up on my bed, Hazel had dropped her Kong (dog toy) on my head. When I opened my eyes, and rolled over, she wagged her tail excitedly, and ran to the door. I noticed that it was closed, that must mean I closed it. So I knew I wasn�t that ill, I had gotten that dizzy before though too. I rolled over onto my back to realize that it ached horribly. When I stood up, and looked in the mirror, I discovered that there were claw marks on my back, from Hazel. She must have been pawing at me! I never thought of that experience as a �life or death� situation, because I was sick with a cold that week, and should have known better then to take the dog for a walk. But that experience has been imprinted in my mind forever. There is no doubt Hazel was showing Compassion, although I have had those who argued �she was just doing as she was told�. However, I know I never taught her to paw at me, or drop her Kong on me, although she could have been trying to play. I believe otherwise. |
| Year Fifteen |
| I was actually fourteen when this situation happened; my example of sympathy. It was year 2002 though, my Birthday being in July, it wasn�t too much longer before I were to turn Fifteen. I have a problem with my knees, and have had it for a few years now. One morning, I was headed outside to feed Hazel, when her chain had caught around me knees. She had lunged at the cat, and the chain wrapped around my knees, pulling me to the ground. I lay there for a while, in pain. About three weeks before this had happened; a car hit Hazel. Her front right leg was injured, but by this time was healed. When I looked up from the ground, I saw Hazel had her paw raised, just as she did when she hurt it. I knew she wasn�t in pain, there was no way. Still, she sat there with her leg held high. Now if that isn�t a sign of Sympathy, I don�t know what is. It is clear to me that Hazel was trying to say; �I know how you feel�. Sympathy is an unbelievable emotion in dogs. Many people don�t believe that a dog can feel this emotion, but dogs are no different from people. Why shouldn�t they be able to show an emotion as great as Sympathy? The dog mind is an unbelievable tool. Dogs that are working dogs, such as herding dogs (like Hazel), always need a job, or they get board. In Hazel�s case, I have taught her everything I can think of to keep her mind exercised. I have taught her over 60 commands, more known to a dog then any other I have ever met. If a dog does not learn something new all the time, he/she easily gets board and destructive. People tend to give away, or destroy wonderful dogs because they don�t understand that their dog is not behaving badly just for the heck of it! The dog is simply board because he/she is smart. The Border Collie dog is an extremely intelligent dog because he is used to work livestock. The dog must be able to think quickly, responding to commands, and be independent at the same time. This takes a lot out of a dog, and therefore the dog has been bred to be active, and intelligent. If the BC (Border Collie) is left in an apartment all day, he/she will take this intelligence and activeness and use it to entertain him (her) self by digging, chewing, and getting into the garbage. Over my Fifteen years, I have learned a lot about dogs, but compared to what I hope to learn in the future, I know very little. |
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