Canine Behavior

Being a student of Human Development naturally I am intrigued by human behavior. And now since we got a puppy, I have learned a great deal about canine behavior. Since Pavlov did his early experiments of operant conditioning on dogs, it is understandable that one can make the leap between human and canine behavior. You remember the bells and the salivating from high school Psychology, don't you?

Now I admit that I am not a firm supporter of behaviorism in human beings as the theory that best explains human behavior and development. Granted humans can be trained (conditioned, if you will) to act a certain way based on a particular stimulus or set of stimuli. Positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement-we use those tactics on young children when we discipline them. I suppose the overall goal is to get our children to behave in a way that is in line with the norms of the society that we live in. By rewarding good behavior or punishing bad behavior we are conditioning our children to act a certain way.

I believe that human behavior is so complex that it's impossible to explain all behavior in terms of conditioning. However this past weekend I was witness to a human being exhibiting classic canine type behavior which makes me wonder how removed we really are from canine tendencies.

It was a lovely weekend that involved two live shows by the John Cowan Band. I have written about Mr. Cowan before and I can't say enough wonderful things about him as a person, his singing, and the band of musicians he has assembled around him. All I will say is that they are truly magical. Anyway, the first show on Friday was close to home, but the one on Saturday was in Ashland, Virginia. We drove up to Ashland Saturday afternoon and checked into the Henry Clay Inn which is situated right next door to the venue that the show was being held at.

First I need to explain that my husband is an audiophile. This involves the collection of LPs, CDS from downloads and trades as well as the plethora of DAT (digital) tapes that he has amassed from live music taping. He has recording equipment that allows him to be able to tape many of the shows we see.

DISCLAIMER: Before the RIAA brings suit against us, I must explain that most of the bands we see allow taping to take place at their shows and the downloads were all perfectly legal.

Anyway, John Cowan is one of the artists that allows the taping of his shows. We have asked him before and his answer has been "Knock yourself out!" Not that I want to assume what his feelings are about live music taping, but I would venture a guess that he believes similarly to Jerry Garcia that live music belongs to the people. In fact Jerry often was quoted as saying that once he was done with playing the song it belonged to the listener and he didn't care what happened to it afterwards. It would seem that making music for these fellows is not about profits or record executives mass marketing their music to a certain demographic. Instead the live music experience is what is important and the audience is an important part of that experience. In fact many bands that are popular today, owe their popularity to live music taping which serves as a means for increasing their fanbase.

Well, when my husband showed up at the Coffee and Tea house that the show was being held and he started to set up his microphones and tape recorder in the back of the room, out of the way of other patrons. Little did he know that the club employed or is possibly being run by a Doberman Pincher disguised as a bipedal human being. The guy basically attacked my husband by first rudely and harshly asking him who he thought he was setting up there and where did he get permission to do so.

Now, my husband is a rational and non-confrontational kind of guy. I have known many tapers from over the years and I must admit there are some that are elitist and believe they are entitled to the privilege of taping, and frankly act like assholes about it. My husband is not like them, I assure you. Therefore, my husband responds to the guy by saying he was truly sorry for being presumptuous for setting up without asking the house. He just assumed that since the artist supported it that he thought it would be okay with the venue. In fact, in all the venues we have ever attended this has NEVER been a problem before, as long as the artist okays it. The guy still did not relent in his attack and told my husband that it was impossible to have gotten the artist's permission because he was not even there yet. To which my husband replied that we had taped him last night with the support of the band and we had taped him when he played here back in August and there had been no problem then. The guy finished his territorial barking by stating that he had a good mind to shut him down, but he did not. So my husband continued setting up.

After he was set up he offered an olive branch to Mr. Pincher who was still very hesitant about shaking hands with my husband. Again my husband apologized for the misunderstanding and offered him a copy of the show. Mr. Pincher did not want that but seemed to soften a little. He finished the conversation by snipping that he still had to clear it with the band-which we knew was not a problem in the least.

His behavior just seemed so canine-like. The territorial nature, the viscious bark, the stubborn relent. He was simply protecting his territory in the best way he knew how, barking loud and mean. In the dog world, it would have ended with them sniffing each other's butts and hopefully he would eventually realized that there was no threat from this confrontation and then they would rollick in the grass. But since we pose as human beings, my husband tried to smooth it over with kind words and good will. He certainly doesn't want to do anything that would jeopardize the privilege of being able to continue to tape live music and he is a stand up guy.

Other than this situation the weekend was fantastic. The Henry Clay Inn is very hospitable and I will certainly stay again if the chance arose. The train runs right in front of the Inn with the cutest train depot right there. We went for a little walk after the show through the Randolph-Macon College campus. We kept hearing loud music and wanted to check out the party. The music turned out to be a frat party that we certainly weren't going to be granted entrance to from the looks of the bouncers on the lawn. The band was playing a mean "Whipping Post" though.During the walk, we got a "Nice ass!" shout out from boys in a passing car. The sad thing is that I'm not sure if that was directed at me or my husband.

Nonetheless, our tails were wagging as we headed back to our room at the Inn.