At two o'clock this morning, home after a late night at work, I was out walking Nexus and Viljo. In 17° temp, 10 mph winds, and light snow, I was actually enjoying myself because the dogs were having a great time in the snow. Then Nexus peed on the little branch I call a peach tree...and Viljo lined up behind him. Ah, I said to myself, Viljo is about to lift his leg for the second time today. And he did. He lifted his leg high and it teetered a bit the whole time but didn't fall down. I stood there kind of awed by instinct. Viljo will be seven months old tomorrow. All of his life he has squatted to urinate. Today, something in his physiology has told him to do it differently.
Here is a definition from Wikipedia (emphasis mine):
"Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism toward a particular behavior. The fixed action patterns are unlearned and inherited.
Instinctual actions - in contrast to actions based on learning - have no learning curve, they are hard-wired and ready to use without learning. Some instinctual behaviors depend on maturational processes to appear."
Viljo's processes are maturing. : )
Here is a definition from Wikipedia (emphasis mine):
"Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism toward a particular behavior. The fixed action patterns are unlearned and inherited.
Instinctual actions - in contrast to actions based on learning - have no learning curve, they are hard-wired and ready to use without learning. Some instinctual behaviors depend on maturational processes to appear."
Viljo's processes are maturing. : )
