- 1 Story, “The series of past events connected with a particular person, country, institution or thing (...)
- 2 A Japanese word meaning “wolf man.” His official passport name is I’Jin-Rōh du songe d’une nuit pol (...)
- 3 Haraway, Donna, The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness (Chicago: (...)
1The word story has several meanings, one of them is defined as an account of past events or of how something has developed according to the Oxford English Dictionary.1 This could be understood as a record of someone’s experience. My dog, Jin-Rōh,2 a Siberian husky, is an integral part of my life story, not only as a dog but rather as a true companion in my daily life. Jin-Rōh shares my life as much as I share his life. Living together is an experience which affects both of us. Close bonds are developed as you spend every day with another living being. Indeed, we live and have evolved together. This story about sharing is a co-story since we are two to shape the latter. From our meeting, we have made mistakes though we managed to adapt and to understand each other little by little. This means caring for the other, being aware of each other’s specific needs. My human existence has changed in association with my dog through a long and interesting process. An on-going process which could be related to a quest. The relationship between a human being and an animal is a perpetual progression as time goes by. This is a unique tie with one specific individual. Donna Haraway asserts that “Co-constitutive companion species and co-evolution are the rule, not the exception.”3 As we follow a common path, we experience things together, simple tasks or activities such as walking, hiking, resting. My four-legged companion travels everywhere with me, just as he is part of my life journey in a metaphorical sense. By travelling together, we improve our understanding of each other, especially when we face some unexpected events. Going on a journey implies discovering a new place, taking the time to become familiar with a new environment and it deals with the ability to adapt. The question of adapting to the other illustrates the significance of the other and emerges if you choose to develop an ethical, respectful partnership with an animal. When a relatedness happens between human beings and the animal, we are compelled to think about the idea of relationship, to reflect on our attitude towards the more-than-human-world. Being in contact with the more-than-human world enables us to become aware that each species has its specificities and is at the same time co-dependent in order to survive. We become sensible to the fact that we are part of something bigger than our human societies in which Man does not prevail on the other species, which is referred to as ecocentrism. Montaigne wrote:
- 4 Montaigne, Michel de, Essais (ESS) (1850), Œuvres complètes, éds. A. Thibaudet et M. Rat (Paris: Ga (...)
[…] l’homme n’a pas le monopole de l’intelligence, mais qu’il partage avec les autres animaux selon des ordres et des degrés différents, une seule et même loi de nature. Aussi les hommes doivent-ils cesser de se mettre à part, de s’enorgueillir des prétendues « prérogatives » de leur raison, de leur science et de leur dignité : il faut nous ramener et nous joindre au nombre. Nous ne sommes ny au-dessus ny au-dessous du reste.4
- 5 Slovic, Scott, “Dogs as Sensory extensions of self: A Gift,” International Symposium: Companion Spe (...)
- 6 Haraway, Donna, The Companion Species Manifesto, 32.
- 7 See Robert Losey et al., “Canids as Persons: early Neolithic Dog and Wolf Burials, Cis-Baikal, Sibe (...)
2From my own experience, I chose my dog, among other dog breeds, among his siblings because Jin-Rōh seems to be the most responsive to my body language, to my smell and to my communicative skills. We were compatible. You have to bear in mind that you cannot compel an animal even if it was a common belief or a rule for a long time. Then, animal and humans become really good partners. This leads to develop our empathy and feelings towards Nature. When you go out there with your dog, you can “read” the world from a new perspective. Thanks to him, I have been able to see and to be aware of elements that I would never have perceived or would have missed without his sensibilities and senses. You begin to notice small details that first might have appeared as insignificant. Especially by letting the dog lead, by following his innate needs from time to time. This means being able to trust each other, which is a reciprocal trust. This also illustrates a will to leave the dog alone, independent and free to decide. We are both active subjects interacting together, with each other and with our surroundings. From this, results a strong connection with our non-human companion and with Nature herself. You come to know your surroundings, to discover a place, which can be an urban area or a natural environment. For instance: which fauna & flora live here, the way some species behave, the quantity of waste that humans can throw in unusual places, which tend to show some sort of disregard towards the place where they live in. In a sense, dogs give us the opportunity to gain sensory capacities. In 2016, during an international symposium, Scott Slovic submitted the idea that dogs could be regarded as “sensory extensions of self.”5 In other words, this echoes what Donna Haraway expressed by the expression “co-constitutive companion species.”6 I understand that the dog and his owner shape each other throughout a common and shared experience that is to say two species sharing something personal, specific for a brief time period in a human life time scale. At the same time, humans and dogs have affected each other’s lives for thousands of years now.7 Indeed, this story about sharing has been on for centuries. As it is true for any significant relationship, when it ends, the human or the animal have to re-adapt on their own, as one individual since they are no longer co-existing. Which underlines the impact of having a non-human companion and the great involvement that this implies. By paying attention to the other, by caring and by acknowledging the uniqueness and otherness of the other, we tend to perceive more than our world, this broadens the meaning of life, then the boundaries between Nature and Culture become blurred.
- 8 Norway, Finnmark county or fylke, Nesseby municipality, Varangerbotn.
3The dog, like many other animals, is a sensible being with a strong sense of observation and is a fast learner. Thus, through this mutual adaptation and this significant relationship, I became more interested in the Siberian husky breed, as a sled dog breed. From one individual to his kind, I sought to enhance my knowledge, my empirical knowledge on this type of dog in order to widen my thoughts regarding the way I could apprehend my four legs companion, at a philosophical level. This is where our trip to the North of Norway8 began. The story of sharing is relevant here: my plan was to travel to the North and to live together in the Arctic region. As for me, I had to learn how to live in the Arctic while my dog followed his primitive skills. This was the first time that we settled in such a septentrional cold and remote area and the first time for Jin-Rōh to be part of a real pack and to have the opportunity to join a sled dog team which means being able to pull a sled. Both of us were beginners or as they called it in the sled dogs’ world, “rookies.”
- 9 Bittel, Jason, “Humans and Dogs Have Been Sledding Together for Nearly 10,000 Years,” National Geog (...)
4With a pack of dogs, such as Siberian huskies, you have to spend some time with them to be accepted within it and to be seen as the main leader. The Siberian husky is regarded as a rustic or primitive breed. According to the National Geographic the sled dog branch of the family tree, which includes various types of huskies and malamutes, broke off from the rest of the dogs around 9, 500 years ago.9 A study from Brown, in 2015, well depicts the roots of the sled dogs:
- 10 Brown, S., Darwent, C., Wictum, E. et al., “Using multiple markers to elucidate the ancient, histor (...)
Throughout most of the Americas, post-colonial dogs largely erased the genetic signatures of pre-historical dogs. However, the North American Arctic harbors dogs [the Thule Dog also known as the Greenland dog] that are potentially descended from pre-historical ancestors, as well as those [Malamute and Siberian Husky] affected by post-colonial translocations and admixtures. […] Inuit dogs [Greenland dogs] have maintained their indigenous nature, […]. […] The Alaskan husky displayed evidence of European introgression, in contrast to Malamute and Siberian husky, which appear to have maintained most of their ancient Siberian ancestry.10
- 11 See Brown. “The Siberian husky was originally developed by the Chukchi people of the Chukotka Penin (...)
- 12 Knudsen, Inge Bugge, “From Polar Exploration to Sled Dog Racing,” Dog Sledding in Norway: Multidisc (...)
5The Siberian husky originates from the Chukchi tribe in north-eastern parts of Siberia.11 Siberian huskies were imported to Norway in the nineteen fifties.12 These working dogs are sensitive beings, even if they are stubborn and have a strong mind. They are hard-workers and give their best if the person is trust worthy. As previously evoked, some reciprocity appears between the human being and the dogs. Nevertheless, if the dogs are not convinced by the human who leads them they will choose what to do and will be tenacious by not listening to what he/she asks. To be honest sometimes you can be tempted to have anthropomorphic interpretations and observations according to the way the dogs behave. When you interact with a pack, you distinguish each dog’s skills, you begin to understand their body language and the way they express themselves with each other. Thus, this helps to think and behave like them in order to be able to communicate with them, you use the same gestures or attitudes as they used to send a message, to tell something.
6The musher and the sled dogs are part of the same cross-species team, this creates a bond in the pack through a shared experience. Man and dogs head towards a common goal, running in the wild, wandering on the frozen ground. From this experience emanates strong feelings. You begin to know every dog when you stay all day long outside in their company. On the one hand, you see them as a whole entity and on the other hand as individuals. Each dog has both its own specificities and some group features. Some dogs wake up early, some enjoy staying inside their little red-wooded houses, some are professional diggers. When one of your dogs comes to you and waits for a stroke this is one of the nicest rewards that you can get. Each dog has a unique howling, when he howls he develops his own melody. Usually as soon as a dog starts singing the others follow and they sing in harmony together. Moreover, they also howl to alert their kind that something is going on in the neighbourhood [an elk passing by or a fox hunting near the fence]. However, these huskies tended to howl at dusk.
7These Siberian huskies are pleased to go out for training. If you are a fair, respectful and trusty partner, you establish something unique which is enhanced through this outdoor activity: sledding. They enjoy the latter so much that when you come to prepare your team for a trip, all of them are excited. They jump everywhere and they are very loud. Sometimes it can be quite demanding to put the harnesses on and to bring one dog to the line. They are not the biggest dogs but they are really tough and strong. There, you might use what you have learnt while observing them interacting with one another. To tell the truth, every dog wants to come whereas some of them have to rest. Pulling a sled seems to be part of their DNA.
- 13 Knudsen, Inge Bugge, “From Polar Exploration to Sled Dog Racing,” 19.
There is evidence of dogs being used as draft animals in the Lake Baikal region of Central Siberia approximately 4000 years ago (Coppinger, 1977, 20). More recent archaeological evidence from the New Siberian Islands suggests that dogs may have been used as draft animals by the local islanders as far back as 9000 years ago (Grimm, 2015).13
8It appears that a long tradition and mutual passion have emerged for the musher and his sled dogs. Before sledding long distances, from early on you train your dogs. When they are puppies, you teach some basic commands and you develop their ability to run by long walks on different kinds of trails and grounds. This strengthens their muscles and endurance just like yours. When they have grown up and are fitted to pull a sled, the training starts. At the beginning, they will run few kilometres; what is important at this stage is for them to learn to adjust their position on the line and obviously to pull. This is interesting to notice that they learn a lot from the other older team members and from you; as if they were pleased to do it right. Training is about sharing, developing our skills and developing our own language together. Therefore, this is something very personal. Patience, good will and respect are the guide’s mottos.
- 14 When the dogs are young, you test each dog in lead position to see how he/she responds. Then you de (...)
- 15 Slovic, Scott, “Dogs as Sensory Extensions of Self: A Gift,” 2016.
9Sledding is quite a physical activity for the dogs and for the musher too, especially during stormy snow weather or during the coldest days, when temperatures can drop to minus 42. The musher has to help his/her team, to run and push the sled with them or to guide them in front when the snow is too deep or when he wants to go out of a trail. The musher has to be fit, to be as well trained as his/her dogs, doing sportive activities on his own such as running, cutting trees, cutting large blocks of meat. During training, you will decide how many kilometres you will run depending on the dogs, on how they run, especially when you have young dogs. Every day is a new day, meaning a new training. Dogs are living beings just like us, sometimes they are in a good mood, sometimes they do not have so much focus, sometimes they have stiff muscles; you have to adapt. Sledding implies being alert about your dogs and environment. In some ways, you widen your range of vision. The musher has a responsibility since he/she is not on his/her own and cares for his/her dogs, however he/she is the one in charge who gives the directions to his/her leaders. Usually you can have one or two lead dogs which are the dogs in front of the line. One dog leading the sled is always impressive because he is the one in charge, who drives the team. Therefore, the lead dog must have this will and be able to think on his own without the interferences of the others.14 Thus, leaders must be strong-minded dogs, since they will have the mental and physical ability to make the other dogs follow the path, the speed on. Of course, each dog has an important part to play while sledding some have the strength, some the speed and some are able to help the leaders. A true cooperation occurs between the sled dogs and the musher. While you train with your dogs, you are amazed by the dogs’ will to run, their efficiency and by the hard work they provide. Then you respect your companions even more. When the trail is gone due to deep snow, when you become nearly blind because of a snow storm or because your headlights run out of power during night time, this affects your senses, you feel a numbness in your body only the dogs know where to head on a barren land, which hidden trail they have to follow. Then the human relies exclusively on his/her dogs. They have the responsibility to bring the team where they have to. Such an experience teaches humility regarding non-human companions and echoes the idea of the dog as a “sensory extension of self.” 15The latter strengthens the bond between us. You cannot react otherwise than by caring for your dogs. During the winter season, days can be long. You need to take particularly good care of your partners, you have to prepare a lot of meat and soup for the doggies in addition to their dry food because they burn a lot of calories. Some can get sick and all of them need specific cares such as cream on their paws, nail cut and massages. You check each day that they eat well, are in good shape and behave as usual. This is another nice aspect about sledding. You spend some time with each of them and this is an interesting manner to know your dogs. This deepens the nature of the relationship that you share with them. Each day is different.
10You have to keep in mind that to drive a dog sled, the musher has to be confident, self-confident and show some consistency in order to be trusted by his four-legged companions. Some practical knowledge is also important. The team but mainly the lead dogs [and animals in general] perceive well your state of mind and your feelings, therefore it is important to be convinced by the acts and decisions that you have decided to follow. You guide, encourage and cheer up your team as much as they cheer you up. A good musher is someone who first thinks about the well-being of his dogs. This is precisely at this point, that the musher becomes a real entity within the pack: the guiding entity.
- 16 I prefer the term “explorer” rather than runaway which I find pejorative.
11A hierarchy is established within the pack. First, the human is at the head of the group since he provides the dogs with the food, cares and education. Secondly, you will notice an Alpha member within the pack. In many cases I saw that the Alpha was a female dog. Lastly, you will have the different team members, the older and younger dogs. At some stage, young dogs can attempt to challenge the social position of older dogs. Nevertheless, they understand to stay where they belong through physical and vocal communication; except if they are strong enough to reverse the trend. It is interesting to observe that the way the pack functions and evolves, is maintained even if there is a human involved. This shows that the latter is fully integrated into the group. That is one of the reasons why you have to intervene when there is a tough fight within the pack, in particular when two females fight. Usually this happens only between two dogs however the others come around and become excited to take part in it like a group of sharks at night time, going on circle around the two antagonists. The best attitude is to know your dogs, to read the precursory signs to prevent any conflict from breaking out. You focus their attention on something else and you make them relax. Fortunately, fights are not so common. As previously mentioned this highlights the human role within the clan and illustrates another aspect of the bond. Nevertheless, dogs do not seem to change their wild nature they simply adjust. When they interact with each other and with you as in a wolf pack, they have kept a wild reminiscent part, some atavistic features. They have kept an instinctual prey drive, they are independent, they can be shy and really have a free spirit. Their free spirit is impressive, they can climb a fence, run away to explore an area or because they have smelt something like an animal or a female in heat. There is nothing personal when they go accidentally out on their own. This has nothing to do with the idea of being good or bad, this is one of their characteristics: Siberians are explorers by nature.16 The relationship is complex since there is an on-going mutual respect between the two species in this case.
12Contrary to what we could have thought, you are aware of these breed specificities, not only when you deal with a pack but mainly when you spend some time with one Siberian husky. As intriguing as it may seem, I was able to notice these features before we left for the Norwegian Arctic. Given the fact that my dog was an urban Siberian husky, I thought that some of them could have become dulled. Furthermore, I was convinced that Jin-Rōh would need to adapt to many new elements in Norway, the cold, the area, wild animals and his “distant” Norwegian siblings. A new dog can have a hard time in a fully formed pack since many members belong to the same family. Hence you have to be extra careful when a new dog arrives, he is alone and can be apprehended as a stranger. The filial relationship reinforces the bond and cooperation between the dogs and it helps to maintain a stable environment within the clan. He is my Siberian; maybe it is due to the fact that we have a close connection. Yet, he remains a free-spirit individual, who acts according to his desire and needs at some point. Nobody can change the inner nature of the other. This has to do with adaptation, communication and experience. Finally, from one individual to a pack, Siberians enjoy pulling and going out there running.
- 17 John O’Hara’s poem Atavism, 1902 quoted in The Call of the Wild. London, Jack, L’appel sauvage (Phé (...)
Old Longing nomadic leap
Chafing at custom’s chain;
Again from its brumal sleep.
Wakens the ferine strain.17 (John O’Hara quoted in The Call of the Wild)
13Exploration can be related to the relationship that you share with an animal. Exploration has a double meaning, in a literal and figurative sense: exploring your surroundings, exploring the others and exploring your own self.
- 18 I think that Edward Abbey’s quote illustrates well what I mean by here and now “[…] the here and no (...)
- 19 Morizot [33’15], “Les Diplomates.” Les Chemins de la Philosophie. France Culture, 4 Novembre 2016, (...)
- 20 Alexandra Horowitz quoted by Slovic, “Dogs as Sensory Extensions of Self: A Gift,” 2016.
14As previously evoked, the dog enables us to be more aware of our surroundings. Thanks to him you become closer to the natural environment, the life out there. Indeed, you take the time to live the present moment, here and now.18 At first, sledding with dogs was a means of transportation, a silent means to move from one place to another. It does not produce any noise, you can only hear the sliding of the sled on the snowy ground and the breath of the dogs. Thus, you do not disturb the fauna out there. This silent activity contrasts with the use of snowmobiles which are quite common in Norway, especially in Finnmark. This type of transportation is really noisy and not so ecological, nevertheless it makes you travel faster than a sled. When you sled with your dogs, you are able to be part of the environment, observing many wild animals, looking for food or resting while passing by. Animals such as elks or eagles are not so afraid or annoyed since you do not disturb their peaceful routine. Willow ptarmigans, an Arctic type of grouse which dons a white body feathers in winter, are more nervous when you drive towards them, they produce a specific sound to warn the others of a potential threat. At this point only, you manage to distinguish them from the snow. The idea of silence, travelling silently on a remote land as if you were part of this landscape is an inherent feature of this white frozen place, which may appear as deprived of life first. You apprehend the world differently through the dogs. They provide a new access. Just like reprogramming a computer, you learn to cohabit with them and with the environment while you sled. You understand that the other animals living there are part of the painting and have the right to be. This is true sometimes you can be surprised or scared because the situation is new or due to the size of an elk coming nearby, then you look at the dogs who are following their path and you adopt the same attitude in order to keep on the peace emanating from the animals and the environment. You learn something which is to adapt and to behave in a more adequate manner, as the animals do. There is indeed nothing to worry, from something new and stranger. This is a natural process, you react and then you learn from your dogs’ attitudes. That is why they gave you the opportunity to see and explore another world, their world, a new one from a new perspective. Each species addresses an environment according to its own perspective. Baptiste Morizot said regarding the notion of perspectivism highlighted by the anthropologist Viveiros de Castro: “non seulement le monde naturel est rempli d’êtres qui ont des perspectives différentes sur le monde, des points de vue différents sur le monde mais la manière dont les autres êtres voient le monde influe sur nos interactions, sur les relations que nous pouvons entretenir.”19 That is to say that you become influenced by the others and by their nature. The boundaries between human beings and the animal, nature as a whole, disappear in a sense. This leads you to reflect on the old Western dichotomy: nature vs culture, since there is a mutual reciprocity between man and nature. Dogs were implicitly sharing their knowledge with me: they demonstrated a sort of culture too. Little by little, you have the impression that a common culture has developed between you and the sled dog. According to Alexandra Horowitz “All animals have their own umwelt — their own subjective realities.”20 When you come from such a different universe, a new apprenticeship begins, while being out there with them, this includes a new way of thinking, you are mentally and physically transformed. You explore something new. Previously I have mentioned the snowmobile which is a modern way of transportation which contrasts with the older traditional one, the sled. You can sled with dogs or reindeers. You take the time to look at the landscape and to know the place while slowly travelling with your companions. When we make a trail, we use snowshoes rather than snowmobiles. Therefore, you have a physical activity, you do not get stuck in deep snow or run out of gas and you are aware of the difficulties of the trail that dogs could face. By sledding, you are more focused [since you pay attention to your dogs] while respecting the peaceful atmosphere emanating from this natural environment.
- 21 Abbey, Desert Solitaire, 155.
15The trail echoes the process of an inner trail. Sledding with your dogs leads to a state of contemplation and introspection. You think about and enjoy the present moment. Therefore, the idea of self-exploration occurs especially through this activity linked to these animals. First you explore the relationship that you develop with them, their alterity too; then at some point you explore your own nature as a human being. You learn many things while observing the more-than-human-world and you receive a lot from it. You are steeped by the dogs’ will to run and to some extent their freedom. This might explain why you feel so good and alive while being with them out there; you feel free, unchained. This also means getting closer to Nature by adopting a more traditional way of living. The felicity comes from the fact that you manage to decentre your person as a human from your human world. Being in Nature with rustic dogs could be seen as a coming back to ancient human roots that were previously hidden. While observing Nature you find answers, as a person, you have a better understanding of yourself and of the person that you are meant to be. You are able to adapt, to be creative and autonomous. When you are with an animal you are no more subjugated by the social norms that prevail in our human society. With the dogs the communication is a silent one, you do not need words to be understood, sledding with them on a frozen land is an experience which is difficult to transcribe into words. This deals with the notion of freedom, being cut off from the Western society, the daily routine and futilities. Edward Abbey’s words summarize well this idea: “Cutting the blood cord, that’s how we feel, the delirious exhilaration of independence, a rebirth backward in time and into primeval liberty, into freedom in the most simple, literal, primitive meaning of the world, the only meaning that really counts […].”21 Sometimes, defined as a simple way of living because this life is deprived of the daily materialism, this kind of lifestyle is meaningful. There is something therapeutic about being with the dogs, walking or sledding with them, they provide some peace of mind.
16 To conclude, I would say I wanted to write a testimony, my perceptions regarding my winter stay with Siberian huskies in the north of Norway. This deals with sharing feelings and sharing a lifestyle with dogs. Being aware of the nature and alterity of the other non-humans and at the same time being able to notice the similarities that we share with Canis Lupus Familiaris, caring for the latter change the way you envision your relationship to the world as a whole. Throughout centuries, an on-going cohabitation has occurred between humans and dogs, which has affected the lives of both species. Each person develops a unique relationship with an animal and the experience is personal. When you decide to live with sled dogs you are devoted to them as much as they are devoted to you. This is truly a lifestyle, the dogs and yourself are so acquainted with each other that this creates a symbiosis or a deep connectedness as a result. Through this experience, the idea of being a human animal stands out. Individual exploration regarding the way we are related to a setting and to some animals shows a common story where the human is intertwined with the more-than-human-world. Nowadays, in our modern society, humans tend to forget this link and its significance. Indeed, we share the same planet with other living beings, which is referred to as the oikos which means the house in Greek. Through the interactions with one dog you understand that your species does not prevail on others, you hence adopt a different approach based on the biocentric philosophy. You become aware of this relationship thanks to a life story shared with another entity, here the dog. According to my own experience, you learn to be more respectful and humbler towards “Mother Nature.” The meeting between two species such as human and dog enables us to apprehend our surroundings differently through our dog’s senses and from his perspective, his own self-world which can provide a more accurate perception of the latter. Lastly, I have attempted here to share my story related to the subject of “Animal Love”—transcribing into words a short glimpse of my personal experience with my four-legged companions.