Space Invaders
By Eileen Anderson
Let’s say you are standing at a party, or in your office, or on your front lawn. Someone you vaguely know walks up to you. He walks up very close, face-to-face, and close enough that you can see up his nose and smell his breath. He starts a conversation. What do you do? You will probably have a strong urge to step back. You may or may not do it, depending on the social situation or a host of other reasons. But when someone we don’t know well enters our personal space bubble, it can be very uncomfortable. Everyone has his or her own bubble. In addition to individual preferences, it is also dependent on age, gender, and culture. And species…Dogs have space bubbles, too. As a domesticated species, they respond somewhat differently from wild animals. But they are still keenly aware of how close humans, dogs, and other animals are to them and respond accordingly. I am pretty convinced that even when we are on our best behavior, dogs find us to be insensitive clods. Read article
