Last night I started reading The Lost Dogs Michael Vick’s dogs and their tale of Rescue and Redemption. I am only about 40 some pages in and this is an incredibly powerful book. By the second chapter I was already crying. The details of what the dogs went through are so inhumane. I wonder how it is even possible for anyone to think this is OK. There were a few sections of the book I marked off that really touched me.
The first section that suck with me was when the author, Jim Gorant, was addressing the criticism as to why people should even care about this story since they are just dogs.
“Men first domesticated dogs more than ten thousand years ago, when our ancestors were hunting for their meals and sleeping next to open fires at night. Dogs were instant helpers in our struggle for survival. They guarded us in the dark and helped us find food by day…..Certainly as man rose in the world, dogs came with us, perhaps even aiding the advance. They continued to guard us and help with hunting, but they did more. They marched with armies into war, they worked by our side, hauling, pulling, herding, retrieving…..In return we brought them into our homes, made them part of our families. We offered them love and companionship, and they returned the gesture….As to why our bond matters, there are reasons for that, too. If you hang around animal activists for a while, you’ll inevitably hear repeated a famous Gandhi quote: ‘The greatness of our nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.’ The idea being that in order to lift the whole society, you must first prop up the lowest among its many parts. If you show goodwill and kindness toward those who cannot stand up for themselves, you set a tone of compassion and good will that permeates all.”
WOW! Was that powerful. There was more reading in between the …. But these parts stood out to me the most. It explains why our beloved companions are more than “just dogs”. My response to the Gandhi quote: China is screwed.
The next section that stood out to me was about dogs ability to hear and smell. We all heard dogs can hear and smell better than people but did you know they can detect odors 100 million times more faint than people can and they can hear a heart beats five feet away. This is amazing. Their ability to hear heart beats is what gives them the insight into the mood and disposition of the people and animals they come in contact with. It makes sense now why when I watch Cesar Millan says to have a calm assertive energy. If you are calm your heart will not be racing out of fear.
The next stand out in the book was a truly amazing statistic.
“One experienced law officer estimates that 80 percent of the dogs, even those raised in a professional fighting operation, won’t even scratch. That is, they won’t even cross the line and engage the other dog.”
How amazing is that? Our society gives pit bulls such a bad rap. We claim they are born fighters when the truth is they are not. The book describes in detail what the dogs go through to be trained as fighters. It is horrific and even more disturbing is how they kill the dogs that will not fight. While reading the book it made me cry when I read about when these dogs were rescued they were scared when the officers put out their hands to pet them. The only touch they ever experience was abuse.
I look at my dogs and thank God they are in my life. Jack, my German Shepherd mix came from a very bad back ground. I am not sure what all happened to him before I adopted him. He is scared when voices are raised or even just people that are loud. He is scare of anything that resembles a stick he can be beaten with. He has gotten better or the years. My bow for karate really scared him. I would put the bow by my side and sit next to Jack and pet him showing him it is OK. I know if Jack had been one of those dogs chosen for dog fighting he would have been in that 20% that would have fought. He has that protection instinct. As I mentioned before in previous blogs about Jack, he has an aggression problem with other dogs outside his pack. He was not like that when I adopted him. He ignored other dogs and did not even try to sniff them or make contact when we walked. He was amazing. Then, not even four months after I adopted him I was attacked by another dog when I was walking him. My reaction was to protect Jack. He cowered and did not do anything back to the dog. When the owner got the dog off of me she started punching it. Gee…wonder where that aggression came from. The next weekend when I took Jack for a walk he was prepared attack every dog that passed us to protect me. He is fine at doggy daycare when he can play with other dogs and I am not there to protect. But when I am around he really has that instinct to put fear into any dog that comes by. I hate that he is like this now. Through a lot of work he now whines to meet the dog rather than growls but I know as soon as he meets it will turn into aggression. When friends bring their dogs over and they meet in the back yard with no leases on he does much better. He still will bit but not draw blood. More of a nip to show who is boss. I do warn my friends about this prior to them meeting. Some are OK with it and others not so much. I do appreciate the ones that are willing to work with us since it helps his rehabilitation.
Back to the book. I still have a lot more reading to do. As I come across other interesting parts of the book I will share.
The first section that suck with me was when the author, Jim Gorant, was addressing the criticism as to why people should even care about this story since they are just dogs.
“Men first domesticated dogs more than ten thousand years ago, when our ancestors were hunting for their meals and sleeping next to open fires at night. Dogs were instant helpers in our struggle for survival. They guarded us in the dark and helped us find food by day…..Certainly as man rose in the world, dogs came with us, perhaps even aiding the advance. They continued to guard us and help with hunting, but they did more. They marched with armies into war, they worked by our side, hauling, pulling, herding, retrieving…..In return we brought them into our homes, made them part of our families. We offered them love and companionship, and they returned the gesture….As to why our bond matters, there are reasons for that, too. If you hang around animal activists for a while, you’ll inevitably hear repeated a famous Gandhi quote: ‘The greatness of our nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.’ The idea being that in order to lift the whole society, you must first prop up the lowest among its many parts. If you show goodwill and kindness toward those who cannot stand up for themselves, you set a tone of compassion and good will that permeates all.”
WOW! Was that powerful. There was more reading in between the …. But these parts stood out to me the most. It explains why our beloved companions are more than “just dogs”. My response to the Gandhi quote: China is screwed.
The next section that stood out to me was about dogs ability to hear and smell. We all heard dogs can hear and smell better than people but did you know they can detect odors 100 million times more faint than people can and they can hear a heart beats five feet away. This is amazing. Their ability to hear heart beats is what gives them the insight into the mood and disposition of the people and animals they come in contact with. It makes sense now why when I watch Cesar Millan says to have a calm assertive energy. If you are calm your heart will not be racing out of fear.
The next stand out in the book was a truly amazing statistic.
“One experienced law officer estimates that 80 percent of the dogs, even those raised in a professional fighting operation, won’t even scratch. That is, they won’t even cross the line and engage the other dog.”
How amazing is that? Our society gives pit bulls such a bad rap. We claim they are born fighters when the truth is they are not. The book describes in detail what the dogs go through to be trained as fighters. It is horrific and even more disturbing is how they kill the dogs that will not fight. While reading the book it made me cry when I read about when these dogs were rescued they were scared when the officers put out their hands to pet them. The only touch they ever experience was abuse.
I look at my dogs and thank God they are in my life. Jack, my German Shepherd mix came from a very bad back ground. I am not sure what all happened to him before I adopted him. He is scared when voices are raised or even just people that are loud. He is scare of anything that resembles a stick he can be beaten with. He has gotten better or the years. My bow for karate really scared him. I would put the bow by my side and sit next to Jack and pet him showing him it is OK. I know if Jack had been one of those dogs chosen for dog fighting he would have been in that 20% that would have fought. He has that protection instinct. As I mentioned before in previous blogs about Jack, he has an aggression problem with other dogs outside his pack. He was not like that when I adopted him. He ignored other dogs and did not even try to sniff them or make contact when we walked. He was amazing. Then, not even four months after I adopted him I was attacked by another dog when I was walking him. My reaction was to protect Jack. He cowered and did not do anything back to the dog. When the owner got the dog off of me she started punching it. Gee…wonder where that aggression came from. The next weekend when I took Jack for a walk he was prepared attack every dog that passed us to protect me. He is fine at doggy daycare when he can play with other dogs and I am not there to protect. But when I am around he really has that instinct to put fear into any dog that comes by. I hate that he is like this now. Through a lot of work he now whines to meet the dog rather than growls but I know as soon as he meets it will turn into aggression. When friends bring their dogs over and they meet in the back yard with no leases on he does much better. He still will bit but not draw blood. More of a nip to show who is boss. I do warn my friends about this prior to them meeting. Some are OK with it and others not so much. I do appreciate the ones that are willing to work with us since it helps his rehabilitation.
Back to the book. I still have a lot more reading to do. As I come across other interesting parts of the book I will share.
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