The Human Factor


After looking over my life thus far, the lives of my family and, more recently, the lives of persons who I contact either due to my health care profession or due to this web site, I have been forced to form new images of the relationships between humans and their pets. More specifically, of course, the images of Kees and their humans have been dominating my life. I am literally haunted by the strengths of the Kees, and the well know weaknesses of the humans.

The Kees position in the relationship ranges from captive breeder slave (mills) to showtime apologies for human inferiority complexes (*only those clubs, groups and competitions where the health and well being of the individual Kees is not paramount), to abused child, to, in wondrous cases, a friend and soul mate. And, of course, there is every combination possible that could occur in-between the prior examples.

Since this site was started due to a mystical effect of one Kees that went far beyond friend and companion, it is now very hard for me to comprehend any of those other relationships (or uses). Yet, I find that those other relationships all still exist. All dogs are special. Many dogs bond closely with humans. For those dogs, anything other than sharing your daily life is a form of punishment.

The Kees, since the spitz was the first to break away from the wolf pack and choose to actively pursue a life with humans, definitely knows humans better than any other dog.

It actively pursued the human (for shelter, food, affection) from the start. For those and more combinations of reasons, the early Kees chose humans for its pack associate. Maybe that spitz ancestor was the runt, maybe not. But it did end up with the humans. If it makes the human the alpha, to this day, it is only because the Kees gives the human the legitimate authority.

Anyone who is considering a Kees as a pet, needs to know that the Kees has the exact same needs as a small child. It wants to share the day with the human. It wants to communicate with the human as much as possible. To treat it otherwise, is really, not figuratively, a punishment for this breed. So, be prepared to receive a new member of the household. If other terms will help, how about 'having a Kees, is like adopting'. You will be responsible for another highly complex animal in your household. Sometimes I feel about a Kees in a similar manner to the feelings most of us have about a chimpanzee. I feel that the only thing limiting them is the lack of hands, though they try their best to overcome even that deficit. So, let us give these guys a chance.



Remember the old human sour grapes, "I didn't ask to (be here) (be in this family)" ? Well the early Kees/spitz did purposefully ask to join us, in spite of our failings, and it did so eons ago. Usually, when someone says, "be careful with this animal", they are warning you of physical harm. I say be careful with this animal, to protect it from any emotional and physical harm that might be done by humans. And I believe that I am just beginning to understand some of the reasons why some persons literally crusade for this dog.



Click here to read "A Look Into Comet's Life", a true rescue success story...