Domestic and liking things just so

Standing in the kitchen with two bowls in my hands I called to Luke.  "Pumpkin," yes Pumpkin.  Like normal he comes to the kitchen door to see what I want.  He does not come charging through the door and into the kitchen, barely able to stop from slamming into the cupboards like someone else.  No, Luke stands to hear the news.  I tell him that it is dinner time and ask if he is hungry.   Watching his reaction, I think probably not.  This is going to be one of those "please Luke.......eat," nights.  After much coaxing he manages to come all of half way to the bowl and then stands waiting for more coaxing.  As I turn to coax some more I see that his ears are plastered back as flat as they can go.  Then I ask him what these flat ears are about while laughing.  He is expecting Dad, he is late and Luke has got his ears turned to hear the slightest sound of Dad's car arriving.  He has always done this and is very uneasy when his Dad does not show up on time.  Luke gets antsy, and unsettled; barking at the slightest noise outside when things are not as per usual.  Domesticated?  Yes.  Like things just so?  Yep.

Domesticate:  To adapt to life in intimate association with and to the advantage of humans.  To make domestic; fit for domestic life.

The other night Steve and I headed out to a country concert; Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan.  It was great but we were home late.  This is very unusual as we are the homebody type.  Nothing better than spending a night on the couch with the hounds and a movie.  So when we got home I was a bit worried about Luke and his separation anxiety.  He'd shown a bit of it lately; but only once it gets dark.  So as I approached the door I listened for the tell tale cry barking.................nothing.  Good.  When I walked in the door I heard two thumps; both Elsa and Luke came down from our bedroom.  They'd already gone to bed.  I couldn't help but laugh.   We were most definitely out past the usual bedtime so they took it upon themselves to head up with or without us.  I'd call that domestic.

Just last night Luke, Elsa and I headed up to bed.  Of course Elsa had charged ahead as she typically does and Luke was waiting patiently for Mom to turn out the lights downstairs.  Once I got to the bedroom Luke dove on the bed, joining Elsa where they enjoyed their bedtime snack and a little drink of water.  Then I did something out of the ordinary, I painted my nails.  I've been crazy busy and who has time to let nails dry during the day?  Luke immediately jumped off the bed, not liking this turn of events.  Hmmmmm........... He looked around trying to decide where he was going to wait this craziness out.  He came and looked at me several times as if asking "what the heck are you doing?"  Finally I was done and he very excitedly got back onto the bed and watched that I was doing the same before settling in.  Just so.

It is amazing how far dogs have come from their ancestors in the woods.  The more you envelop a dog into your life the more they domesticate.  Dogs abandoned or born into a life on the streets; quickly resort back to their ancestral type behaviors.  But the do not go all the way back to wolf behavior; there is now a permanent change, they regress to wild dogs.  Evolution has had an impact on our dogs.  The connection that you form with your dog will bring that even further.  But taken away they can quickly call upon their hardwired knowledge to survive.  I enjoy my domestic dogs and I LOVE how they like things just so.