Understanding how we are bred

My wife is a dog person, I am not. BUT, i have watched her with Spot, her Jack Russell. Spot is a well trained dog. He doesn't jump on the furniture. He doesn't bark unnecessarily. He goes outside always to do his business. He is a smart dog that knows exactly what is expected of him.
Spot loves to go on walks. When the lease goes on, he is ready to go. He sniffs and pees, pees and sniffs, RELENTLESSLY. However, as long as he is on the lease, he always moves or stops on command.



We live in the mountains in a relatively quiet neighborhood, with woods and open spaces. Occasionally, my wife is feeling confident about Spot's behavior and she lets him off the lease. Most of the time Spot keeps just sniffing and wandering around like he loves to do. BUT, eventually Spot detects a moving critter. like a squirrel. Then he is off for the chase. My wife is screaming for him to stop but he relentlessly pursues the chase. 

 Spot was bred to chase. In most situations he behaves as he was trained to act. However, eventually he does what he was made to do. He loves to chase. Built into Spot is a natural identity (he has the nature of a Jack Russell dog) and a personal identity (he has his own personality).

Spot's social identity is that he is Gail's dog. He lives in a specific neighborhood with other dogs that are his friends. He has patterns of behavior at the dog park when all the community's dogs gather each afternoon to socialize.

Like Spot, we each have all three identities. We have our human nature and all that goes with it. We have a personal identity that makes us unique. AND, we have a social identity formed by our communities, such as family, work place, local and national cultures.

Like Spot, most often our social identity constrains our personal and natural identity. It works OK for us because it offers us many benefits when we conform to demands of our social settings. BUT, sometimes we must let go, be who we are and meant to be. We must "chase that which runs". Human behavior, choices we must make. Often we can control our choices, but sometimes our personal and natural identity takes over. Maybe that is not always a bad thing. 

Knowing how we are bred and being free enough to live it out may actually be a good thing. Sometimes it is not even a choice, but instinct.

Just something to ponder ....