The above is image is the reconstructed skeletal remains of a Hesperocyon. The Hesperocyons were the first recognizable dogs in the fossil record, which first appeared 35-40 million years ago in North America.
I’ve decided to use this image to tell you something very simple:
This is no longer a dog blog.
I’ve not written anything serious about dogs in a very long time. I know that most of you came here for those posts.
There aren’t going to be any more of those. I’m sorry.
I don’t think I’m qualified enough to discuss the subject matter. When I was younger and cockier, I thought I knew enough. I don’t know enough.
I wrote this blog because I was questing after ghosts. I was questing after dogs that have long since passed from this mortal coil but who still cast a deep shadow into my psyche.
I was also questing after myself. The happiest time of my life was my childhood in the forest with dogs.
In both quests, I have found other things.
And I’ve come to the conclusion that as authoritative as I’ve sounded here, I’m really not qualified to talk about it.
Dogs have become one of those topics, like politics or religion, where you just don’t want to talk about them or only talk about them with guarded company.
Things have just become so complex and fractious now that I don’t know if I consider myself a dog person anymore.
Many people will say that they can never live without a dog, but I’m coming to the conclusion that for the sake of the dog and for me, it’s better that I not have them.
Miley is doing well. Don’t worry about her.
But there won’t be another dog.
I admire animals, but I know that I just don’t have what it takes to be a great dog person.
I’ll leave this up for people who know more.
I’m really sorry that I have to leave it here. I had hopes and dreams. But I know they can’t be realized with my level of skill and knowledge.
Enjoy what I’ve written here thus far. It may be inaccurate. It may be accurate.
But I’m not putting any additional content here that relates to dogs.
I have come to the conclusion that I have failed, and that I need to step way back.
You’ve said some of these things before. I think you have far more curiosity than most dog people I’ve known. Curiosity is contagious, so whether you feel qualified is beside the point. I’m so sorry you feel this way. Anyone in the dog world as observant and curious as you should be lauded.
As I’ve said in the past: I feel you’re being far too hard on yourself, Scottie.
Yea, I get what you mean. I get the impression that many good people are leaving the world of dog stuff due to the inane squabbling. It’s kind of like two way talk radio. How sad that a time when dogs are at last being studied seriously, simultaneously, the most backward mystical thinking has come to dominate. Kind of like the state of politics. Me, I get the impression that the beings that were once dogs are doomed. Longest friendship humankind has had, and we won’t see it like again. I’m not sure that it’s really some new sense you have of not being intellectually formidable enough on the subject or how depressing it is to spend so much time aware of this pathetic moment in the history of us and dogs. The worst is how (I think) that it’s the people who are trying to “help” the dogs are nails in the coffin. As in all fields, there will always be a pretty steady percentage of idiots and wackos and charlatans; but it’s when the non-nuts get lazy and weaken and turn on each other that any issue goes to rot. One small example: the idea that one of the biggest threats to dogs is hot cars. The pathos of it all has just taken all the fight out of me. Me and my dog Maddie (13) have gone over to canada geese friends.
I’m not ready to leave the dog world because I think science is starting to play a role in bettering breeds through diversity. Winning is an archaic concept and has created an extinct future for most breeds. I’m going to hang with my boy, Kalitan, a Chinook, also 13. There’s an inbred village dog if ever there was one. I have no delusions but my curiosity is still alive.
Like many people online, you are someone who liked talking about dogs and sharing your ideas. You didn’t fail anymore than any other person talking about dogs online. If you are sharing ideas, research that you read etc, about dogs there is no need for a qualification. It is not like you are trying to teach quantum physics.
There is no official definition of what is a “dog person”. It is just a subjective umbrella term that pretty much covers anyone who like dogs, from Paris Hilton with her chihuahua to a hog hunter with 10 catch dogs.
People will always have different ideas of how to raise, treat, and breed dogs.
Besides maybe a few loud fanatic extremists, (which exist in every subject) most people have a “live and let live” attitude when it comes to dogs as long as its necessities to live are provided. Only time, research, and nature proves what is right and there will be some breeds and types that go extinct, survive, and new ones appear. There is no point of beating yourself up or being hard on yourself.
you’ve said this before, but you have educated a ton of people, myself included. You are quoted often and made a difference. Just consider that this is one thing you may not get to choose.
I certainly wish I had better context for this, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. You wrote things in a spirit of reasonableness and you put interesting, plausible ideas forward. Some are probably right, some are probably wrong. Whether you end up being inaccurate or accurate in any given instance counts a lot less, imo, than does the fact that you were honestly shooting for accuracy to begin with. Many “dog folks” can’t really claim that for themselves without a lot of cognitive dissonance.
You DID benefit the online dog community. Not because you were an infallible authority – nobody said you had to be to participate! – but because your approaches were basically smart. So thanks for that – and dog posts or no dog posts I’ll probably keep reading anyway. ;)
I love your postings! Luckily, I question everything I read whether it is from you, a beautyblogger advertising for some shit, the president of USA or researches at Harvard. Your dog posts were refreshing and much needed, rgardless of what people might say. The dogworld is a truly horrible place, especially the show part of it, but that does not diminish the fantastic adventures and joy that these magnificient creatures bring us ❤️❤️❤️ I love them and will forever love them, maybe more than I actually love myself and humans in general.
Sad, but I respect it all
Unfortunately, most of the people doing dog blogs are more self-confident and less informative than you are. You don’t need to post opinionated stuff. You have wonderful historical insights, especially for us retriever-oriented folks.
I realize it’s turned into a dog-lover eat dog-lover world. But your input will be missed.
I am sad to read this post. Although I’ve never commented before, I feel the need to now. It is really the least I can do. I have often read your posts over the last several years, learned a great deal, and been inspired to explore my own curiosities in canine history. I’ve never considered this blog to be a scientific journal, but something even better; a source for knowledge uninhibited the limitations, rules and starkness of an official publication. What I’ve loved about this blog is that you allow your readers to follow along on your own explorations and research of canine history, sharing your discoveries openly discuss and debate them. No one is a expert at anything. By that I mean, there is never a point where the is not something new to learn, no matter how much a person knows already. I don’t know that such a thing is even achievable in such a wide field, and even if it is, I don’t know that achieving a certain level of expertise should even be a goal. Life is about the journey, not the destination. Your knowledge on dogs may not be perfect or complete, but show me one person who can claim such? I hope that since you posted last, that you are feeling less dejected. I’m sorry that allowing others to join you on this journey has inadvertently soured you to the joy of dogs. I hope that taking a step back from this blog that you spent nearly 8 years passionately creating, has given you some perspective on what you have achieved here, rather than what you haven’t. Your blog is a completely unique and an invaluable portal into canine history with a such range of information and research that is far beyond what most people could ever hope to discover on their own. Most of all, I hope that in your time away, you have found once again, the unconditional connection between man and best friend that exists with this blog or without it. Best wishes.
Thank you.