I am comparing two of my 3 dogs. One is a several year old Foxhound mix. The second is a very young, Australian Shepard. Interestingly enough, they are both named after descriptions of Flint on this and, preceding, sites. The Foxhound is named Bubba and the A. Shepard is named Moron.

Now, the two are very nice dogs. Both are really layed-back and have no trouble being submissive with cats.

They are different outside. Bubba, let loose, will roam the county. I will have to start the pick-up and drive back roads to collect him. Obviously, I don't let him run. In contrast, Flint [oops, moron], will stay with me all day. He will come to the back field while I run the tractor and lay down and watch. Then he will come home with me.

Seems to me that they are hard wired for these reactions. Are we? Is Eve hard wired to be an Ayn supporter?

Just a question.

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 20, 2001

Answers

You are not Z.

-- helen (nnn@nnn.nnn), May 20, 2001.

Helen:

Yes, I am. I just got back from somewhere and I have to go to Wyoming. The joke there is if you evenly distributed the people across the state, no one could see anyone. Sounds good to me.

Helen: If that is the way you feel, I don't need to post here any longer. My time is limited in the next 6 months. I'm sure that you can add more information to the discussions than me. You haven't displayed this ability in the past, but I am sure that you can learn.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 20, 2001.

I didn't think the real Z would just pop on to pick on someone, that's all.

-- helen (nnn@nnn.nnn), May 20, 2001.

"If that is the way you feel, I don't need to post here any longer."

Yes, this is the way we feel.

-- goodbye (and don't @ come. back), May 20, 2001.

Yo:

Don't know who I was attacking, but it is clear that I am not welcome here anymore. Flint and I have been cyber-aq. for years. I started here before Diane; back on the original site. Most of you high schoolers weren't even aware back then.

Still, if this is now your site, I will leave. My job, at the moment, as it has, requires a lot of travel. Just got back from Europe from international meetings on greenhouse warming, as I mentioned before. You, of course, aren't interested in the subject;; you are interested in tests of penis size.

Well, so long.

A last best wishes,,,,

Z

By-the-by: all of the ,,,,,,after best wishes evolved from the early greenspun software which used to cut-off the last number of digets in a message.

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 20, 2001.

LOL, that should have been digits; but what the hell, most of you don't know the difference. Even Flint doesn't post here anymore.

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 20, 2001.

Z,

Don't let the trolls run you off. I for one, appreciate your contributions Z. You know anyone can impersonate another here, no magic. But why let the trolls have the board? What ever happened to the old philosophy of not biting their bait and just ignoring them? Hmmm?

-- Aunt Bee (Aunt__Bee@hotmail.com), May 20, 2001.

AB;

Don't you see!! No response to the question.

Oh, well.

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 20, 2001.

Z and Flint

A couple of ball-less whiners

-- (let's liven@thisplace.up), May 20, 2001.

Let's put it this way Z...

The human race will have a far better chance of survival if you stay away from meetings on greenhouse warming and spend the rest of your days at home trying to figure out your dogs.

Although you may not see it as clearly as others, this answers your question, indirectly.

-- (your thoughts and our future @ scary. combination), May 20, 2001.

The suspicion that the original post is not the Z we like is due to the uncharacteristic spelling errors. I doubt the type of dog is spelled like the astronaut.

As for the question (in case it is the real Z), yes the dogs are hardwired in their basic personality traits assuming no abuse or special training. It's real obvious the way my iguana is hardwired (no humor circuit). Eve is less likely to be hardwired for such a specific trait. Of course, there is far less information in the genome than in the neural connections, so hardwired is to be taken metaphorically.

-- dandelion (golden@pleurisy.plant), May 21, 2001.

I apologize for making a dreadful mistake, Z. The reason I made the mistake is because I think highly of you.

-- helen (me@culpa.z), May 21, 2001.

Z,

You dog should have the proper first name - *Unmitigated* Moron. In our old retriever's puppy training class, you should have seen the border collie furiously herding the bouncing retrievers from one end of the room to the other during the socialization period.

I vote for hardwiring, but wonder as 'mature' humans just how much this we can hope to overcome.

-- flora (***@__._), May 21, 2001.

Z-

I have no idea what makes one dog act one way and another dog act another. For example, we have two dogs of the same breed, Chow. Both are adopted, so we don't know exactly what happened to them in their earlier lives. My older male, who was four when we got him, might as well be a dog-skin rug. He finds the coolest spot in the house and sets up camp. Oh, he'll get excited if a stranger comes to the house (in fact, we have to walk in with people he's never met before), he gets up when he's ready for attention and food, but for the most part, he's just very mellow. He's extremely well-behaved in the house. Now outside the house, he can't stand other dogs; he'll whine and drop his ears 'til they're near, then he goes ballistic, barking and growling, even flipping them over to force them to be submissive. Jane says he's basically a fuzzy little jerk.

Our other dog, a 16 month-old female, we've nicknamed "No No Bad Puppy". She's extremely active at home (for a Chow that is) but simply can't seem to obey the rules of the house. Both our dogs know they're not allowed on the couch, yet every time we come home, our female will be lounging on the couch. Sometimes she'll even stretch before getting off the damn thing. No matter what we do, she seems to find it physically impossible to obey certain rules, like stay off the couch, Jane's nylons are not toys, no one is interested in letting you play in the tub, etc. Once we get outside, however, she's extremely reserved. She'll tolerate other dogs, even let a stranger pet her a little.

Hell I have no idea why they're so different. We've had our male for two years and our female for almost a year, and they came with personalities completely set in stone.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), May 21, 2001.

Flora-

During our first obedience class, I was relegated to the back of the field with my male, since he's rather dog aggressive. It was kind of embarassing, especially since the other dogs in the class were mostly Goldens and Collies, who are very motivated to please their owners. Chows are extremely independent, and we suffered by comparison. The only other dog who was forced to hang back with us was a small but hysterical Jack Russell terrier who barked at anything that moved. My dog used to swat her with his front paw if she got too hyper for his taste. Her owners and everyone else found this hilarious, but I was mortified. This was before I figured out that he was naturally well behaved if I would just let him be himself and keep him away from most other dogs.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), May 21, 2001.

a small but hysterical Jack Russell...

In other words, a normal Jack.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), May 21, 2001.

Yeah, I guess so. I always wondered how they got the Jack Russell on Wishbone to do all those tricks and not go ape-shit on the camera guys. Maybe they sedate him heavily before each scene?

Has anyone ever wondered why the smaller a dog is, the more they bark? Maybe bigger dogs only have to say what's on their mind once...

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), May 21, 2001.

Has anyone ever wondered why the smaller a dog is, the more they bark?

Kinda reminds me of you, Monkey Boy.

-- Teenie (Weenie@pri.mate), May 21, 2001.