BeeBee has taken to barking–a loud, shrill bark–for no apparent reason that I can discern. When hearing dogs do this, I assume they’re reacting to some sound I can’t hear. This raises the question: what is she barking at? Accepting that I have no idea and that the bark is very annoying, including to the other pets, I’ve devised a hand and body language signal that means “quiet.”
The instant I used it the first time, though, a funny thing happened. It hit me that BeeBee had created a koan for me. Surely expecting a deaf dog to obey a Quiet command ranks as one of those paradoxical and nonsensical questions used as an aid to meditation.
Forget the sound of one hand clapping.
What does Quiet mean to a dog who can’t hear?
Can a deaf dog hear herself bark?
Does she associate the proper response to the command with not making any noise, or does she think it’s the way she holds her lips and tongue and expels air that irritates me?
Or does she think she lives with a crazy woman and must cope the best she can?
Does she ponder this while viewing her little corgi navel or watching the leaves fall?
The only comfort I take from this dilemma is the realization that a lot of the commands we give perfectly normal dogs fall into this same category. In that case perhaps thanks to me my pets will achieve enlightenment. If so, it will probably be sooner than I will.