Can everyone understand all of a dog's behaviors? Today, I'll use a small incident to explain dog behavior.
In rural areas, many families keep dogs, but they don't raise exotic breeds; instead, they keep local Chinese rural dogs, commonly known as "Tu Gou" (土狗). Raising Tu Gou is easier than raising other pet dogs, perhaps because of their native breed; they are strong and healthy and rarely get sick. There are also many interesting stories about Tu Gou in rural areas. Some say that when a Tu Gou gets sick, it will find and eat herbal medicine, which is why its owners rarely see it sick. Furthermore, if a Tu Gou becomes seriously ill and is about to die, it will quickly run outside and won't die at home.
A homeowner recently encountered the second situation after getting a small mixed-breed dog. The dog was bought from a neighbor a while ago because the homeowner had some chickens and ducks in the backyard and was worried that they might run away, so they wanted to get a dog to guard the house.
The owner prefers a free-range lifestyle, keeping the dog confined in the yard when not home and letting it out to play when returning. The dog is very intelligent and always runs home on time. However, a few days ago, the owner encountered a strange situation: it was almost time to return home, but the dog was nowhere to be seen.
The owner immediately went out to search for the dog. Fortunately, when he asked a neighbor as soon as he left the yard, the neighbor said that when he returned from finishing his farm work, he saw the dog heading towards the back mountain. At first, the owner thought the dog had just been playing too much and had run off to play in the back mountain, but when he found the dog there, he was quite surprised.
The dog was huddled in a pile of straw, convulsing and even foaming at the mouth. When it saw its owner, it tried to get up, but due to weakness in its limbs, it couldn't stand. Based on the dog's condition, the owner suspected it had been poisoned. They suspected that the village had recently been carrying out rat extermination work, and the dog might have accidentally eaten bait containing rat poison, leading to its poisoning.
The dog probably knew it was about to die and chose to wait for its death outside. The poisoning was so severe that it showed no signs of life within ten minutes. The owner buried it on the spot, a place the dog had essentially chosen itself.
After hearing this, you might feel a bit emotional. A perfectly healthy dog died because it accidentally ate something. This also tells us not to carelessly release toxic substances and to be responsible for all life.
