Why?


WHY? In the philosophy and site dedication, the specific goals of this site are discussed. Beyond those specifics lie the ambiguous, yet never ending and basic, questions as to why this site was even created. The contents of the articles answer only some of the questions. Each article becomes a snapshot in time. In that brief moment, if I succeeded, the reader comes to know a little of the "why". Through the detailed description of events, perhaps especially if painfully done, the reader comes to know the animal. And if one knows this animal, some of those reasons "why" are felt, if not cognitively understood. The rest I will now address.

We live in a complex society now. With the benefits and the price of such a society questioned on an hourly basis of every day, we sometimes long for a simpler time. Perhaps a time where words coming from other humans had a meaning more true to the original definitions? Even if such clarity came with the human communication, many of those same humans long ago decided that their own species was the least predictable of all the species. While intriguing, and even functional for creative expression, this lack of predictability or stability fosters doubt in human affairs. We tend to remember and prize those who, for instance, kept their word. And keeping one's word is a strange phrase, for it may not even refer to "word", and in most cases may refer to an unsaid agreement. One's word can be signaled by voice, gesture and, perhaps, most importantly action - especially repeated action. And that brings us to the Fur Persons.

Our pets tend to keep their word. They have a nonverbal, but definitely "signed" agreement with their human. Some of these agreements are fairly basic, some complex. With those agreements, we have expected roles as human and as pet. And rarely does the pet not keep its portion of the agreement. Other sites will address the societal contribution by cats and other dogs. I will now focus on the wolf-like Spitz dogs, which archaeological sites repeatedly prove were with us as long ago as 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.

This animal was at least physically close to us. Their bones have been found all around the campsites of prehistoric man. If a natural disaster happened to occur, then the scientists find the early Kees' bones beside the human. The human and the Kees lived and died together. Thus, it is my interpretation that we have a long standing agreement with the Kees (wolf like Spitz). And that interpretation must include and conclude that the Kees kept its agreement with the human, most certainly displaying repeated, and therefore dependable, action…over millennia.

We humans don't have many associates that will do that for us. And, frankly, looking at the complex nature of the relationship, and realizing that it is far beyond the basic food and water routine, don't we all sometimes wonder why they bother? Why do they give that something extra to the human/dog relationship? And the previous questions, indirectly, answer the one big question at the top of this page. Because we do have this…long standing associate, this…friend that is little changed from prehistoric times to the present, this…fur person that kept its word to the humans, I feel obligated to tell their story.