Animal behavior

Most of the time I can't sit at my computer for longer than five or ten minutes without being interrupted by the dog wanting in. Or out. Or back in. Or to be paid attention to. Or let back out. Like I don't already have enough things distracting me. He doesn't seem to understand my well-intentioned rants about how he just went out (or in) and how I'm not at his beck and call (I am). He also doesn't seem to respond well to yelling. He thinks "No!" means "Run up here and whine closer to my face so that I will be more motivated to let you out."

It's not his fault. From what I can tell from all the latest biology (and my one animal behavior class in college), animals are just that. Animals. They have no higher order thinking. They are motivated by food, water, safety, and instinct. If that instinct tells them they must bark incessantly at the truck that has been parked outside the neighbor's house all week long, they must. do. it. If there is a treat in my hand, you can forget whatever is coming out of my mouth, even if it's a command Kolbe has known for years (he will occasionally do a perfunctory "sit" or "shake" if he thinks it will get him the treat faster, but it's half-hearted at best and he quickly returns to begging position).

My parents' dog is even worse. She has no concept of restraint. Just because you just kicked her skidding across the entryway hardwood floor does not mean that she shouldn't jump up on you a sixteenth time. Because. she. must. If you even think about interrupting her 56 seconds of inhaling her food...well, I actually don't think we've tried that yet, but I bet it wouldn't be successful.

All this to say that I'm glad we're not like animals. At least, not the non-verbal, soul-less kind (don't tell my mom dogs don't have souls). We have intellect and will. We can assess a situation and choose how to act. I am (usually) capable of forgoing the nap if I know I need to do laundry, or the third cookie if I am already ransacking the house for Tums. You can't reason with a dog. You can train him. You can try different styles of motivating. But if you're not appealing to something quite at the base of his hierarchy of needs, forget it. Sometimes if you're not appealing to one of my little sister's higher needs, you can forget it also--she will always go for the instant gratification.

Back to the point...It's why I get so furious when people whip out the argument of "they'll just do it anyways" in response to preaching abstinence or modest dress or responsible drinking or any such thing. Okay, yes, teenagers do not have fully developed frontal lobes and cannot always fully comprehend the consequences of impulsive action. That does not mean we have to abandon all boundaries of acceptable behavior. If you set expectations and give them a reason to tame their animal passions and desires, they are capable of it. Form the intellect and the will. Appeal to something greater, like virtue, instead of settling for the lowest common denominator. It's why fasting is so important (and why it's so hard). We are denying the body something it wants (be it food, or something else, like music, warmth, sleep, etc) because the mind is capable of controlling it. If it can work with the Dove promise sitting on the counter, maybe it can work with even greater temptation. But only if we work at it.

It's my hope that as Lent winds down, I can take the fasting spirit and move forward, taming the shouts of my body--"I'm hungry! I'm tired! I'm cold! I'm bored! I'm uncomfortable!"--in order to do what I know I am capable of. Also, I'm going to try not to yell at the dog so much. Maybe.