Here's a link to a really nice story!

[Mary Plummer]

Hello everyone,

I really liked this story; I think it reminds me of Mr. Blue a lot:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... r24_2.html

I was wondering, though, about the description of the dog as "primitive":

"She's what I'd call primitive," Beardsley said one day, as she watched Mocha practicing her sit-stay. "It could just be the way she was born, or maybe she's had to rely on her wilder canine heritage to survive." In fact, Mocha had all sorts of rituals that could be called primitive, like routinely dashing from the kitchen with a mouthful of kibble to "bury" in the carpet -- saving for lean times, I guessed. She even tried to hide chew toys in the floor of the twins' room, whimpering when she encountered, for the hundredth time, the obstinate hardwood. She shied away from open hands and barked and growled at strangers. She was primitive, certainly. At some point that might have been what saved her."

What do you suppose that means? I take it to mean something like the dog still possesses and/or relies on skills that most modern dogs here in the U.S. don't have to use too much anymore. If that's the case, I think our Mr. Blue could be described in those terms, too. But I'm not sure. It seems to me that a lot of Mr. Blue's survival skills are traits he got as a hound dog/Catahoula mix. I don't know if it's common to describe certain types of dogs as more "primitive" or not; I've never heard it used that way, but it certainly could be.