Witnessing the Animal Moment

In a 1928 article entitled “The Culture of Canines,” sociologist Read Bain made the case for a serious “animal sociology” (Bain, 1928, 545-56). He suggested that, along with other nonhumans, dogs possessed a distinct culture that was the result of dog-dog as well as dog-human interaction and socialization processes. Canine behaviors such as responding to a whistle or giving a paw when greeting a human were “not unlearned instinctive responses, nor are they individual habits, but they are common to practically all civilized dogs in America ... resulting from the acquisition of culture traits” (Bain, 1928, 554). He described visiting white friends in Texas whose terrier, although friendly to white children barked and snarled at African American children passing their home. Observing the approbation (stroking, patting) with which the dog‟s white mistress responded to this aggressive behavior, he raised the possibility of “sectional” canine culture, and noted: