On the conference that our Mistress is on, one of the courses she has been doing is ‘Character Psychology’. Now, it’s really about her writing but as they have discussed the different personality types she has been musing on which boxes the four of us fall into. I suggested to her that maybe it was different for dogs and we could write a whole book on the subject. The thing is, that for pure-bred dogs, one of the defining things is our character and a breed does, across its gene pool, have quite a lot in common. However, you only have to look at the four of us to see some crucial differences.
Wilma is a natural born leader. Our Mistress says she could get a whole book out of just analysing Wilma. Wherever she goes, other dogs defer to her. She has higher emotional intelligence than any dog our Mistress has ever met before and is the only dog that our Mistress has ever seen apologise to a dog that didn’t appreciate her approach. In the last nine months our Mistress has only ever once seen Wilma put out and that was when Grandpa’s hearing aid gave out a very high pitched noise. I think Wilma had found that very distressing and was not about to put herself in a position where it was repeated.
Me, I’m an introvert. I’m non-confrontational and would definitely avoid an argument if I possibly could. I know life is a bit different now, but when you’re ill that doesn’t really show your natural doganality.
Shadow, well I’m not sure how you would describe Shadow. I think we’re seeing more of her natural doganality now that Wilma is in the house and Shadow doesn’t feel the need to be in charge anymore. She’s a much nicer dog for having Wilma here. Before, I think having to be pack leader was quite hard work for her and she could only do it by being quite tough on us, which means she didn’t relax so much. When she’s her own dog she’s the happiest Entlebucher I know and spends half the time away with the fairies, chasing butterflies and specs of dust, but always with a broad smile on her face and with a zest for life which is infectious.
Aristotle, well he is a much more expressive character. He gestures widely with his paws and throws himself into everything. In some ways, I think he is most like our Mistress. He’s into everything and really can’t sit still. Or more to the point, if he is sitting still it’s because he’s coming up with a plan for his next load of mischief. He’s the one most likely to dress up if there were a dog fancy dress party, but even he couldn’t be quite as mad as our Mistress!
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