The lips hang loosely, and the hair remains smooth. All these movements
or gestures are explicable, as I believe, from their standing in
complete antithesis to those naturally assumed by a savage dog under a
directly opposite state of mind. When a man merely speaks to, or just
notices, his dog, we see the last vestige of these movements in a
slight wag of the tail, without any other movement of the body, and
without even the ears being lowered. Dogs also exhibit their affection
by desiring to rub against their masters, and to be rubbed or patted by
them.
Gratiolet explains the above gestures of affection in the following
manner: and the reader can judge whether the explanation appears
satisfactory. Speaking of animals in general, including the dog, he
says,[502] C est toujours la partie la plus sensible de leurs corps
qui recherche les caresses ou les donne. Lorsque toute la longueur des
flancs et du corps est sensible, l animal serpente et rampe sous les
caresses; et ces ondulations se propageant le long des muscles
analogues des segments jusqu aux extremites de la colonne vertebrale,
la queue se ploie et s agite. Further on, he adds, that dogs, when
feeling affectionate, lower their ears in order to exclude all sounds,
so that their whole attention may be concentrated on the caresses of
their master!
Dogs have another and striking way of exhibiting their affection,
namely, by licking the hands or faces of their masters. They sometimes
lick other dogs, and then it is always their chops. I have also seen
dogs licking cats with whom they were friends. This habit probably
originated in the females carefully licking their puppies the dearest
object of their love for the sake of cleansing them. They also often
give their puppies, after a short absence, a few cursory licks,
apparently from affection. Thus the habit will have become associated
with the emotion of love, however it may afterwards be aroused. It is
now so firmly inherited or innate, that it is transmitted equally to
both sexes. A female terrier of mine lately had her puppies destroyed,
and though at all times a very affectionate creature, I was much struck
with the manner in which she then tried to satisfy her instinctive
maternal love by expending it on me; and her desire to lick my hands
rose to an insatiable passion.
The same principle probably explains why dogs, when feeling
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