I have a young dog. I want her to grow up to be a well-mannered little thing that is welcome in our friends’ homes. I also want her to be a happy, lively dog that doesn’t just kowtow to me because I weigh 10 times what she weighs and have the physical capacity to punish her. There are some Scandinavian animal behaviorists working separately, Anders Hallgren and Turid Rugaas, who have studied dogs, their relationships with each other, and their relationships to people. If you put together what they say, you come up with this: the leader of the pack is most often the least aggressive dog in the pack–the leadership role comes from the ability to resolve conflicts between other dogs rather than the ability to whup the pants off of them. It’s experience and wisdom that makes the leader, and the leader (or a mother of pups) almost never gets physical when maintaining order.
Now consider Kenya – Condoleeza Rice has now said that the time for a political solution was yesterday (whatever that means for what happens today) while Kofi Annan has said that he’ll stay and mediate until mediation reaches an irreversible point. I know who I see as the leader there.
Speaking of dogs, my dog walking mittens are coming along nicely. It still looks rumply because it hasn’t been blocked yet. I made a buttonhole for my index finger and the thumb will be open at the end and is in a 3×3 rib, like a little turtleneck, so that I can push it back and manipulate treats and leash clips and other necessary things.
