television as experienced by greyhounds

 

Cassius is an emotionally involved viewer

Well, the other day, i was trying to watch "Downward Dog". Hound No. 2, Cassius, does not perceive the world as i do. He barks at his own reflection, Hound No. 1, thinks there are several problems with him. Cassius gets involved with television, especially when animals are on it. First, i thought only with dogs, but we watched an elephant documentary, and that too. He will jump up and press his nose to the screen, after he whimpers loudly. At some teevee dogs he will bark. Captain only reacts when wolves howl. I am sadly disappointed, that, when i ask the hounds questions, they do not answer.

Getting back to Downward Dog, a.k.a. 'Martin'. Martin is an introspective, depressed, philosophical hound living in Pittsburgh. His human has become too busy for him. On this episode, there was a puppy. Cassius was noisy. I noticed early that Cassius does not account for personal space, or seem to realise what is him or not him. Does Cassius think the animals are trapped behind the television screen? Does Cassius think they will respond to him?

When dogs are running on teevee, Cassius goes to the kitchen. He does not find them. Sometimes, he turns to us, and wants our attention to this.

one should not kill a greyhound

screen grab from CliffsNotes

Years ago, i had four books to read (later 5) before i entered high school. One was Harper Lee's novel. It was a good book. We have seen the famous first lines of a number of books. I think i would begin my greyhound book with such a line, "It is easy to love a greyhound, one should not kill a greyhound".