Interspecies Relating, Boundaries and Us
One of my holiday observations this year had to do with the interspecies relationships between a canine with his feline cousins and the way each responded to boundaries and forms of play.
One I noticed, surfaced quite a bit was the quest for a seat or space on the couch. The youngster feline became submissive or would roll to his back in a form of surrender when his canine cousin wanted the spot, but he didn’t engage further nor would he relinquish his spot regardless of the fact the dog was 10-15x larger. For physical size wasn’t an aspect from the feline’s viewpoint.
When the feline was done playing canine games, growling would be heard especially when the canine kid tried to corner or box him in to a space. Now the feline’s older brother did not emit warnings, his immediate response was claws first focused on the dog’s nose – ouch!
It made me think about human relationships and boundary play. There are some that communicate with levels or layers within boundaries as well as those that have a firm initial response. No two people, known to one another or not, honor or enforce boundaries in the same manner. And in some cases, how someone responds can be connected to a nervous system response.
No two individuals are the same regardless of species when it comes to relationship dynamics and identifying of personal boundaries…each instills unique responses and levels when it comes to relating to others.