Hump Day

The Bark (best dog magazine ever), recently featured a piece on why dogs hump each other (and their stuffed toys and your leg). Having read all four pages, I discovered the answer: no one knows. Maybe it’s to show dominance, but then again maybe it’s just play. Maybe they are over-stimulated; maybe it’s a way to reduce stress. Like most people, I am deeply dissatisfied with any informative article that ends with a shrug of the shoulders. But, aren’t all our theories about dog behavior just guesswork?

  It's true; dogs now have their very own blow-up dolls (bachelor party not included)

 

 Oliver.

How often have we authoritatively informed someone why our dog humps, barks, growls or trembles? I don’t know why anyone else does, but I need a sound narrative. My beloved Oliver, VP of Guest Relations for Little Pup Lodge,  squints his right eye when I walk towards him. The story I tell myself? Before I adopted him, some sick, cruel monster kicked him on the right side of his face. Never mind that it could be some weird tic he was born with. It could be a conspiratorial wink as he shares a private joke with me. Possibly there's an eyelash in his eye (that is invisible to me). The bottom line as to why Oliver squints? No one knows.