Work Hard, Play Hard
Feb. 22nd, 2009 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kokopelleThe puppies get to practice being aggressive/assertive when they go about their play. I haven't seen this captured before in photography. Photographers do love to get pictures of adults with teeth bared, but as I'll mention below this gives a mis impression of the wolf/wolf-dog.
In yesterday's picture session I got a glimpse of outright puppy aggression and the results are below. The irony of this play is that such shared "aggression" is muted when they grow up. The older wolf-dogs have to follow the lead of the alpha, and it is typically only the alpha who shows a degree of assertiveness when appropriate. In fact, actual teeth bared (IME) is a rarity amongst even the alphas. The only exception is during feeding perhaps, but we've seen this to be very very rare with the wolf-dogs. Usually only a growl is needed from an alpha to warn off a subordinate. It is interesting that the pups are given permission to "practice" aggression and hence sort out their present and future ranking, and perhaps this is the natural way of things.
Timber and Blaize "tussle"
In yesterday's picture session I got a glimpse of outright puppy aggression and the results are below. The irony of this play is that such shared "aggression" is muted when they grow up. The older wolf-dogs have to follow the lead of the alpha, and it is typically only the alpha who shows a degree of assertiveness when appropriate. In fact, actual teeth bared (IME) is a rarity amongst even the alphas. The only exception is during feeding perhaps, but we've seen this to be very very rare with the wolf-dogs. Usually only a growl is needed from an alpha to warn off a subordinate. It is interesting that the pups are given permission to "practice" aggression and hence sort out their present and future ranking, and perhaps this is the natural way of things.
Timber and Blaize "tussle"
