Born to Bark by Stanley Coren

Author:Stanley Coren [Coren, Stanley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs, Dogs, Pets, Usernet, C429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9781439189221
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2010-11-02T07:45:23+00:00

Then there was the first time Flint encountered the great dog beast in the sky. In Vancouver, electrical storms with lightning and thunder are relatively rare, and Flint must have been around a year and a half old when he encountered his first. I was sitting at my dining room table surrounded by many sheets of data from a research project when suddenly Flint froze. He spun around, looked up, and then dashed toward a window with such fervor that I stopped my work to watch him. A moment later, my own less-sensitive human ears picked up the rumble of distant thunder. Flint was growling and making a low throaty sound much like the sound of thunder. Suddenly, there was a bolt of lightning followed by a burst of thunder to which Flint responded with angry barking.

Many dogs have a fear of thunder, which sounds to them like the ferocious growls of an enormous dog or similar animal that is threatening to attack them and that is far too large to fight off or defend against. The idea that thunder was the sound of dogs growling has made its way into a number of myths. My favorite comes from a tribe of Plains Indians in the Northwestern United States who told stories of the Fire Cat, a puma who is the Sun’s pet. When the Sun is shining, Fire Cat sleeps and absorbs some of the Sun’s fire and heat, but when the Sun disappears because it is obstructed by storm clouds, Fire Cat becomes angry and unleashes the fire he has stored in the form of bolts of lightning. If not stopped, he could burn out great forests and plains and destroy everything on Earth, so the Great Spirit created the Thunder Dogs, whose job it is to chase away the Fire Cat before he does too much harm. That is why every lightning bolt is followed by the clamor of growling Thunder Dogs who have come to drive off Fire Cat. It also explains why the noise of the Thunder Dogs’ warning growls can be heard long after there are no more lightning bolts—they are making sure that Fire Cat has run away to hide and will stay away until the Sun returns.

After another flash of lightning and burst of thunder, Flint barked angrily again. Instead of cowering from the great dangerous dog growling in the sky, like any sensible dog his size might, my courageous little terrier had appointed himself a member of the Thunder Dogs, Guardian of the Earth, Enemy of the Fire Cat who was raining lightning upon the helpless denizens of this world. I got up and went to the window just as another lightning bolt struck.

Flint barked again and I joined in, shouting, “Get away, Fire Cat! There are too many brave and strong dogs here, and we will bite you if we catch you! Ruff-ruff-ruff! Get him, Flint. Ruff-ruff-ruff!”

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