Words: Emma Latham Phillips
Photos: Sophie Green
Stand aside, cats; dogs are a human’s best friend. We all know it. Ever since the domestic dog evolved from the wolves that latched onto us for our food scraps, 15,000 years ago, we’ve been joined at the heel. There’s no other human-animal relationship quite like it, and this iconic interspecies duo just loves to show it off, from the show ring to the park.
The domestic dog or canis familiaris has specifically evolved to live alongside humans, and modern science proves there’s more to our sacred bond than meets the eye. It starts with a look. Stare a dog in the eye, and it will hold your gaze – tongue lolling, tail wagging and eyes smiling. You coo and gabble at it, and it’s almost as if it understands what you are saying. It’s a look of love, and it’s reciprocated. It’s not just humans that get the special treatment, dogs seem to form emotional attachments to anything from lambs to ducks.
The hypersocial behaviour shown by dogs stems from genetic evolution. Japanese researchers discovered that a pooch who stares at its owners for a long time has elevated oxytocin levels, the love hormone. After receiving these soppy looks, the owner’s levels of oxytocin also increases. This hormone fosters nurturing and attachment. Dog’s have cheekily hijacked humans primary means of communication, eye-to-eye contact, and it definitely works.
It’s this ability to have reciprocal relationships which makes dogs such desirable companions. It’s hardly surprising that puppy sales skyrocketed during the pandemic. Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association revealed that 3.2 million pets were purchased across the UK. Research from The Kennel Club showed that two in five bought a puppy to be their Covid-19 companion. For the vulnerable, a dog can be a lifeline.
“My daughter Ellissia has a therapy dog – a Frenchie,” explains Cheryl East. “She has autism and a rare disease that means she’s often in and out of Great Ormond St Hospital. But animals seem to help her through, and she can connect with even the most difficult dogs,” she continues. “They seem to just want to please her.” This year, Ellissia has taken her passion for pets into the show ring, training her’s and others’ dogs for dog shows. She hasn’t fallen below third place once and has qualified both her dogs for Crufts.
Dog shows are used by enthusiasts as an arena to showcase just how well they can communicate with their pooch. It’s a competition where a dog’s attributes and conformation are compared against the breed standard for the breed. Unfortunately, this means that only pedigree dogs registered with The Kennel Club are eligible to compete. Mongrels are banished to Companion Dog Shows. You can enter your dog into agility, flyball (run, catch and fetch), heelwork to music (essentially dancing), good citizen (full of good boys), and the main event, “best of breed.”
For many, dog shows are a bit of fun – the chance to show off your most trusted companion. But for others, dog showing is a lifelong commitment, and a win at Crufts (the largest and most important dog show in the world) is the holy grail. This hobby seems to be passed on through the generations. Children enter these competitions from the age of six and continue on into their seventies. In fact, there are so many dogs shows, you could travel across the UK (and globe) to attend one every weekend. Many do, travelling in the car for hours, laden up with pooch paraphernalia.
Though considered a social event, dog shows are certainly not without an element of competition... or nepotism. It’s not just fun and games. There’ve even been alleged reports of “nobbling,” [canine speak for sabotaging a rival dog] Mark Seal at Vanity Fair reports. “At the end of the day, everyone wants to take home the rosette,” explains Sarah Kelleway, a dog show regular who’s recently passed on the torch to her daughter, Claudia. She’s at Bath Spa Showground to showcase the family’s Great Danes.
Pioneering canine behaviourist Clive Wynne argues that dogs’ capacity to love makes them the perfect companion for humans. Ultimately, this adoration for the family pet is what Sarah, Claudia, Cheryl and Ellissia are here to celebrate. “A happy dog that shows well is showing with someone they love, trust and want to be with,” explains Sarah. “The feelings that you have run through into your dog, and vice versa. You bounce off each other.” “For me, the relationship between human and dog needs to be loyal on both sides,” continues Ellissia. “You and your dog work as one.”
Dog shows are not without fanatics, and the level of attention that the handlers bestow on their wagging wards backstage is feverish. The table becomes a poodle parlour. Pampered pups stand ready to be preened for the catwalk, next to handlers dressed to the nines. The dog’s coat is carefully washed, brushed, blowdried, misted and combed; their nails are manicured, and their teeth brushed. These pooches wouldn’t look out of place in a L’Oréal advert, and they lap it up. Stroke them if you dare. But woe betides you if you ruffle their fur.
It’s hard not to see owners reflected in their dogs when you look around a showground, park, or city street. “I think the type of dog you go for mirrors your character,” comments Sarah. But do dogs simply emulate their owners because we’ve come to project so much of ourselves onto them?
Dr Alexandra Horowitz, director of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College, warns us of anthropomorphism. A dog is not a human; it has an entirely unique way of seeing the world or “umwelt.” What could be perceived as the perfect people-dog symbiosis could actually be the astute ability for a dog to pick up on minute facial expressions that we’re unable to see. Dogs have a higher flicker fusion rate than we do and can instantly respond to our gestures. “They see more world in every second,” explains Dr Horowitz.
Dogs have evolved to please humans. But that does not mean we should rush into buying one. One in five new owners who brought a puppy in the pandemic admitted they hadn’t fully considered the long-term commitment. Nor does it mean we should promote the breeding of specific characteristics that may be detrimental to a dog’s health simply because it’s aesthetically pleasing. As the saying goes, a dog is for a lifetime, not Christmas.
Bio
Sophie Green is a social documentary and art photographer based in London. Her photography is a spontaneous, intuitive reaction to the ordinary; celebrating the idiosyncrasies and eccentricities of the human experience.
In a world full of unique individuals, her work largely explores aspects of British culture and rarely-documented communities and subcultures who are drawn together by shared identity or mutual circumstance. She strives to seek out the glue that unites these individuals together as a collective; leading her to explore the realms of Aladura Spiritualist African churches and congregations, afro hair salons, banger & stock car racing, streetcar culture, arm wrestlers, British cowboy culture and travellers.
Curious to push the boundaries of traditional social documentary practice – Green likes to play with a balance of spontaneous documentary realism combined with stylised constructions. Merging portraiture and still life images – she is drawn to the details that surround her subjects as a way of revealing a deeper story of person and place. Colourful, graphic, and sometimes humorous incidentals punctuate the compositions heightening their resonance.
Green engages directly with the individuals she photographs through collaborative, posed portrait sessions that serve to empower the subjects, providing a platform to tell their story. She believes that trust and respect are fundamental to the process of creating an emotional and revealing portrait. Many of her projects develop over several years in order to honour the subjects’ lives and portray them truthfully through images and text.
Photographic storytelling is a powerful tool through which we can record, share and communicate ideas. She aspires for her photography to positively encourage a connection and understanding between the viewer and the subject.
Credits
Photographer - Sophie Green - http://www.sophiegreenphotography.com/ @sophiegreenstudio
Stylist - Adam Winder http://www.adamwinder.com/ @adam.winder
Fashion Credits - Versace, Marine Serre, Thom Browne, Paul Smith, Moncler, Giu Giu, Collina Strada, Ashley Williams, Y/Project, We11done, MISBVH and Martine Ali all at SSENSE / ssense.com from the EVERYTHING ELSE department https://www.ssense.com/en-fr/everything-else/pets
