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Dogs Are Really Evolved Creatures. . .

Sometimes, from my limited vantage point on the front porch of Faded Glory, I watch our two-legged visitors and marvel at the fact that these folks make financial decisions, marry, drive cars, make and enforce our laws, and perform a myriad of other tasks that require common sense, integrity, responsibility and self control.

Here at Faded Glory humans, unabashedly enjoying their fleeting moments of leisure, sometime seem to revert to their more primitive roots and beg the question: just how evolved are you? Today you dine with china and silver knives and forks; and just the blink of an eye ago, it was "club, cut, hack and eat." Ugh!

I can tell you that humans on vacation are known to drink to excess, eat all the wrong things, play too hard, 'cavort' with virtual strangers, exercise deplorable judgement (or none at all), gamble, break laws and generally revert to a happier, more primal state. Don't take my word for it, just open your eyes. The public guffawed while watching Chevy Chase in Summer Vacation, but think about it; how far from reality was it? Just spend a summer here at Faded Glory, and you might become a 'believer.' I guess what I'm asking is, "Is the human race really all THAT evolved?"

With the exception of a very few Pacific Rim nations, I realize that dogs are not generally revered for the taste and edibility of their flesh, and this is most fortunate for us. But, it is still unnerving to realize that we live among, and survive as a species at the pleasure of, a culture primarily comprised of carnivores; people who eat chicken embryos and kill a hog - merely to have breakfast. . . and that's just the TIP of the "food-chain iceberg." Luckily for us dogs,we really ARE valued for our companionship, love and compatibility.

But, next time you throw your beloved Bowser a rawhide bone, examine the implications of your act. Do you think that your best friend and companion doesn't KNOW that he is now gnawing on the processed hide of ol' Bossie, that peaceful, passive creature that inhabits our local barnyards? Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not a vegetarian! I'm a practicing carnivore just like most of you; but if you were me, wouldn't you feel uncomfortable knowing that you were living in the midst of several million cannibals?

Believe it or not, if humans ceased to exist on this earth today, most dogs would have some difficulty reverting to being hunters. Truth is, we are fed beef and other meat products by other carnivores; out of cans, refrigerators and freezers. We no longer know how to HUNT; even sniffing is becoming a lost art. This is because our human owners do our foraging for us. So, if we are lucky enough to receive a 'meat dish' it comes directly from the hands of or under the tables of, our human masters. Otherwise, it's dry Purina chow that becomes the centerpiece of our diet.

Did you know that modern-day scientists have discovered that we dogs (with few exceptions) have the exact same DNA as untamed wolves? Now that's food for thought. . . kind of shows you how far we canines have evolved socially (but not genetically) in just a few thousand years. Did you know that 'yesterday's' pure-bred Bloodhound came remarkably close to the accuracy of today's DNA testing without all of the technologies and delays? Back in the day, put 'em on the trail of a lost or escaped human being and they would rarely fail. These days, we are literally having our basic instincts and behaviors 'bred' out of us.

Look at our species and tell me Darwin wasn't right! There goes the gene pool, folks! Do you think that in a few million years, we may surpass and nurture humans? The way things are going, it's entirely possible!

© 2010-2011 David Johnson, All Rights Reserved