Today, Nell took her walk at the Trentham Estate. I went with her because she can’t be trusted around squirrels, ducks, pigeons and crows, and Trentham is full of these creatures. In my capacity, then, as chief-scooper-of-the-poo and holder-of-the-harness, off we went and enjoyed a brisk sojourn around the woods ‘n’ lake. She was very well-behaved, well, compared with other dogs that we met who weren’t so well-behaved anyway. It’s always good to see that your own dog isn’t the one who is being tutted at for barking/ snapping/biting/ flinging itself around on the end of its lead in a rabid frenzy. While still exuding a youthful exuberance because Nell just loves life and doesn’t care who knows it (and, at almost 11 months old, she is still technically a puppy) she demonstrates good social skills with people and other dogs.
The odd thing I’ve noticed though, about her interaction with other dogs, is that she is really drawn to other poodle-types. She will trot past dachshunds, shihtzus, dalmations, Staffies, without a second glance, intent on sniffing and snuffling the undergrowth and drinking from puddles. She might wag her tail at a Labrador and she quite likes a miniature schnauzer BUT when she sees another cockapoo, maltipoo, labradoodle, bordoodle or even an actual poodle poodle, it’s like she knows and the other dog knows that they are one and the same tribe and they have to stop and say ‘Hello!’
I’ve said as much to other poo and doodle owners. And they agree. They have all noticed that these dogs who share the poodle gene all gravitate towards each other, like they recognise their shared characteristics. Isn’t that clever? Or weird? Either way, these poodle-type dogs know their tribe.
Sometimes, I wonder to which tribe I belong. A writers’ tribe? An arty-crafty tribe? A witchy other-worldly tribe? A gardeners’ tribe? Occasionally, I will try and assimilate myself into a tribe because that’s what human beings do, isn’t it? Don’t they have to be part of a social group in order to thrive and survive? But generally, I find that I will join a tribe with enthusiasm and energy, and then I’ll become disillusioned and annoyed, and then I will leave the tribe (exit stage right, pursued by a gust of wind and some tumbleweed) and I find myself perched on the edge of society, looking in and wondering what the chuff it’s all about and why human beings have such a huge capacity to be so horrible to each other.
And that perhaps I should start my own tribe. Or perhaps I’ll just stay where I am, sitting here on the edge of society, watching it all kick off and continuing to be bemused by it all…
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KJ