Week 22

I find myself straining to get a topic for this weeks blog. So I'll go off on a tangent and see if it develops into something worth saving. Today my brother was watching a movie he just bought. One of the newer Dwayne Johnson movies, Rampage. It was somewhat cheesy complete with groan worthy one liners, but all in all a cute little way to decompress via mindless entertainment. During the movie, the my puppy was very agitated. Jumping into and out of laps, pacing the floor and knocking over things deliberately with her paws. It wasn't the gunfire or explosions, she's seen many of those movies and has never fussed. It was the roaring. The wolf howls and gorilla screams to be specific. They were too realistic for her liking I guess. Strange though as she hears coyotes howl weekly at the farm and that never phases her. I thought about it some more and began to see her behavior was worse when the wolf noises were on. Made me wonder if that has some deep seeded instinct to fear a wolf howl, where a coyote howl doesn't have the same effect. Is that something that is hardwired into her like the herding instinct? Is to something to do with her age and will she grow out of it? Is it something that she will always go to the fear well when she hears the howl of a wolf. Maybe you think I'm giving her too much credit, but they have proven that Border Collies have the intelligence of a human child up to 7 years of age. She has demonstrated the ability to problem solve and to apply knowledge from one arena to another. They are also known for their excellent hearing and ability to focus their attention well beyond the average. I see no reason that she wouldn't be able to tell the difference between coyote and wolf vocalizations, and that the vocalizations of the latter would cause her duress where as the former is something within her sphere of normal. Take it a step further to human thought processes. There are things that are instinctually feared with humans, and things that are learned behaviors. For example, I am claustrophobic. This is a learned behavior. I had a bad experience in a small area as a child, and the result is an irrational fear that has followed me through life. One that has to be managed. One that no mater how much exposure I do (caving, crowds, elevators, etc.) the fears always just as strong as the last time and I find myself employing practiced mental discipline to function normally. And even then, my definition of normal function is pushed to the agitated spectrum. My concentration is brought into a very narrowed focus, at times giving me the appearance of zoning out. A more accurate description would be I'm zoning in, to the very narrowed focus of managing the irrational fear. Everything outside that management takes a back seat, sometimes to the point of not registering them. So in a large crowd, please don't take offense if I ignore you. It's far better than pitching a fit in a crowd. But I digress, claustrophobia in my case is a learned behavior. Where as my healthy respect for heights is, I believe, and instinctual behavior. I am not afraid of heights in the traditional sense. I have no issue of going to a high place, but I do become more careful and go into the threshold of the adrenal state. Not anxiety per say, but definitely not a relaxed one either. I go into high places with no reservations or apprehension, just become super aware of every foot and hand hold. I have no memory of every having an issue with high places so I assume that it is something that was hardwired into humans over the evolutionary process. Honestly I think I'm watching way too many documentaries on human behavior, I should watch more cartoons.