Bella (my non-human observation paper)

Observation of my puppy Bella
Elizabeth Locatelli



Bella (my male puppy) has been in my life for about 2 months now and since then my bedroom has shifted hands from mine to his. Because of my guilt in making him sleep in a small bed on the floor I allowed him to sleep in bed with me thinking it would only happen the first few nights to adjust to his new home. In a quick amount of time, Bella has transformed from a shy, timid, fearful puppy, to a dominating and territorial dog, making it clear that while I am the one who feeds him, he isn’t giving up his space on my bed.
Bella has been trained to go to the bathroom in a litter box through bribery of dog treats. Bella will run and jump directly into the pan and commence the search for “that perfect” spot, where no previous voiding has occurred. I had expectations about Bella automatically performing like a cat in the sense that he would dig a hole, go potty, and then cover it up. Bella doesn’t follow the cat’s self-sufficiency. He goes poop and leaves it for everyone to see and smell.
Bella stays in my room while I am at school and I recently pretended that I left and went outside and watched him through the window to see what he does when he is by himself. I think that Bella is lonely when I am not there because his body movements and facial expressions remind me of a lonely and/or depressed person. He places his head on pillows or the bed and his big eyes look off into the distance emulating a person in deep contemplation and/or sadness. Sometimes he will fall asleep after being still for an extended period of time or will get up and find something to chew on.
The other extreme of Bella’s behavior is when he is running around, playing with his toys, my shoes, and clothes. He chews constantly as if looking for the perfect bite, but I think that he is teething and it feels good on his little gums and teeth to naw away.
In conjunction with the chewing (including my hands and feet), he is always smelling the things he is going to chew on or lick. I think that he is sophisticated in a way beyond humans because of his sense of smell used to discern. Whereas I think that humans use sight and touch to make assessments and distinguish objects, animals seem more compelled to smell something in gaining trust and comfort. Bella smells people, toys, food, etc. before he participates with it. I have sat in bed and watched the puppy remain reserved until he has smelled the person or object enough to feel safe and confident that they aren’t a potential threat.
Observing animals (both your own and others) and writing down observations is difficult and eye opening because I found that I would describe a random dog using the terminology and labeling as dog or pet, but with a animal that I know and have given a name to, I feel that it doesn’t do the animal justice to simply call it “dog”.
Bella is very smart and competent of not only human language but body language and eye contact as well. Sometimes I just look at him a certain way and he immediately knows/comprehends what I am feeling.
In doing this observational assignment, I learned that the types of labels we ascribe on humans and non-humans, really effects the treatment and considerations we give to them as a result. Even though I get annoyed that the dog is always chewing on my foot, I will probably go play with him now because like all of us, this is his way of having social connection with other living creatures.