Cooperation

Since ancient times, domination has been the principal method of interaction between man and animal; but domination is little more than instilling fear. If we wish an animal to truly work with us, it is not fear but willingness that needs to be cultivated. This history of dominance is particularly notable in the world of dogs and horses (the circus has also employed such techniques but that is another culture best discussed elsewhere); and this dominance has percolated through to all levels of society – notable in the simple gesture of ‘affection’ shown particularly to horses but, at times, also to dogs: we pat them in a steadily more forcible manner, depending upon the size of the animal in question, until it becomes a hard slap. But why? Who ever decided that an animal likes to be hit when it has done something well? Surely there are other ways of showing pleasure and rewarding a well-behaved animal. And what do we then do if the animal is ‘disobedient’? Pat it more gently? Stroke it lovingly? Or should we hit it harder still? Clearly something has gone astray in human behaviour towards our ‘friends’ of the animal world. And indeed, it need not be like this at all. Even displeasure and correction need not involve pain. Animals are not as stupid as many think; but neither are they clever, calculating nor conniving. Nor do they have a sense of ‘having won’, the human sentiment that drives us to continue an exercise until the animal ‘gets it right’. More often than not, such human attitudes are counterproductive and lead more rapidly to frustration than to fruition.