!

Mayberry 1

Julia Mayberry Professor Batty English 114 December 12, 2013 Secret Lives of Dogs Dogs are not only insightful, but they are complex and mysterious creatures. They live in houses, occupy humans bedrooms, and occasionally are slipped unwanted vegetables under the dinning room table. Throughout history, people have questioned the intelligence of the creatures. Do they understand the world? Do they feel compassion for each other? Do they even worry about bettering themselves? In the story of Mush! Sled Dogs with Issues, written by Glenn Eichler and Joe Infurnari, they describe sled dogs lives in great detail. They went through their everyday and showed you how they lived. They showed the sled dogs in all sorts of predicaments. The authors describe these dogs similarly to humans, these dogs had feelings, dreams, and ambitions. These dogs had real lives and were made up to be more than simple minded animals. The authors intend to show people that dogs have issues that are just as complicated, or even more complicating than humans issues. This was proven to the audience through images that demonstrate how intelligent dogs are and discussing the problems these dogs faced such as: their love lives, statuses at their jobs, their place in the world, and being accepted by their peers. When a dog barks, howls, or wags its tail, they are trying to communicate with each other and with their humans. Humans try to decipher the code and are not always correct with their guesses. Humans suggest that either the animal is hungry, thirsty, or has to use the restroom. In

Mayberry 2

the book, these dogs are more complicated with their emotions, in actuality dogs have more do not believe humans could understand their complicated issues. Theyre trying to figure out whats going on. Its not easy for them. Their understanding is very limited, (Eichler and Infurnari 110). The images on this page show the humans stumbling out of their house to see what all the fuss caused by the dogs is about. The visual rhetoric in the book shows all dogs and humans on the same level of power and every living thing seems to be confused with each others actions. On one side, the humans are trying to figure out the issue between the dogs and vise versa. One dog called Fiddler explains to the rest of the sled dogs that humans do not understand what is going on because their intelligence is very limited. The irony in this is that humans believe dogs have limited understanding and the only problem caused was that their food was not separated resulting in fighting amongst the pack. As read in the story, they are truly fighting over a more complicated issue. People may disagree that dogs do not fight over complex situations because they do not use actual words to communicate. While that may have some truth, it was mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph that they do use their barks, howls, and tails to communicate. Speaking is not the only way of communication as is proven by speaking through sign language. Sign language is similar in the way in which dogs communicate because they both use gestures to speak. Not only is the dogs way of communicating complex, but they also have complicated love lives and work lives. The sled dogs in this story have incredibly complicated love lives and work lives, although dogs do not mate for enjoyment or work for money, they still have feelings and face rejection in their everyday lives. Almost everything can experience love in one way or another. The dogs love their humans and peers, this includes romantic forms of love. Humans are not the

Mayberry 3

only living being that can experience a romantic love. Um... Can you explain females to me? (Eichler and Infurnari 49). The visual rhetoric shows a shy, cautious dog approaching another confused dog for some advice. The confused dog seems to look a tad bit embarrassed when talking about love. This picture is comparable to two male high schoolers relying on each other for female advise. Buddy, a sled dog, has feelings for another dog and does not understand why he is not having any lucky with this female dog. Humans have feelings and hope for relationships with people, just as dogs do. Many people believe dogs do not carry out romantic relationships because they do not mate for the pleasure of mating. Most people believe sexual encounters between dogs is merely used to create off spring and means nothing more than populating their specie. As the authors, Eichler and Infurnari, explain, dogs have feelings for each other and do not need to mate to love each other. In some sense, dogs seem to be more honest about their feelings because they do not fall in love to have intercourse. In that sense, dogs feelings for one another is more authentic than humans love because it is not based on sexual relations. Sexual relations is not only aspect to dogs lives, they also have dreams for their futures. Dogs not only have feelings for one another but they also have dreams and expectation for their lives, they want to improve them selves even in a job. In the story, the better sled dogs were placed in the front and the worse runners were placed closer to the sled. I like leading and Im gonna try to keep it no more complicated than that, (Echoer and Infurnari 118). The images on this page show a confident female dog speaking with another male dog about her position in the work place. Visual rhetoric places the confident female dog ahead of the other dogs. She is also the largest subject in that screen. This visual helps the argument in the book by showing the

Mayberry 4

competition to be a lead dog. A lead dog is the most powerful position a sled dog could have and almost every dog wants it so they could be powerful. An ambitious sled dog explains that she is proud of her accomplishments and hopes to run in the front. Other dogs in the book were not happy with their position when out on a run. Their plan is to become the best so they can be a leader. Some people may disagree and think that dogs do not have goals to better themselves because they do not make any money when on runs. Although dogs do not make money running, they still have a status among their peers that builds or deconstructs their self worth. Just as people wish to impress their boss, the dogs also hope to do this so they can run as a leader. Position with leading is directly connected to an idea of being accepted by others. Being accepted by peers is one of the most important aspects of a human life without acceptance one will not be able to get a job or make friends. Through the story, the sled dog called Winston is always looking for approval by the other sled dog called Guy. He just wanted someone to appreciate him and to be his friend. Guy always seems to see his friendship as a joke and ends up making Winston look like a fool. Guy wasnt backing you to be lead dog! Guy was sacrificing you so he could be lead dog! (Eichler and Infurnari 90). On this page, visual rhetoric shows one dog having a realization that he was being used. The color red was used to show his frustration towards the situation. This observation regarding the color red allows the audience to realize how sensitive animals and humans can get if they are not accepted by their peers. All Buddy was hoping for was to be appreciated and it turns out that Guy was setting Buddy up so that Guy could be a lead runner. He knew he could sabotage Buddy and took advantage of him. Humans may disagree and think that all dogs accept each other and never try to sabotage each other. Eichler and Infurnari show their audience that dogs are not always accepted by one

Mayberry 5

another. Humans witness this all the time dogs do not always get along because of disagreements that lead to dog fights. Overall, being accepted by peers is something dogs really do strive for. Another main component to life is, beside acceptance, is existing. Humans, for as long as they have walked the earth, have questioned the meaning to their existence. Dogs also question their place on earth. Some dogs believe they were meant to run and others hope for so much more. One insightful dog always questioned the world around him. Do you ever wonder if the Boss even exists at all? (Eichler and Infurnari 40). Two relaxed dogs lay in the snow. White colors represent the serenity around them. Fiddler, a sled dog, questioned if he made up the Boss in his mind to escape the sad reality of his life. He wondered if he created the fence that held him back from the real world just so he could not control his own destiny. He did this because he was frightened. People may think that dogs do not have the intelligence to question their own existence the way Fiddler does. As Eichler and Infurnari discuss, when dogs sit around, it gives them a chance to think about their own lives. Humans do this too, they question why they are on the planet to begin with. If dogs have all day to sit around and think, how could they not think about the meaning of their own life? Overall, dogs have the intelligence to think on their own about their lives. These dogs in the book have issues they deal with everyday that are similar to humans complications. These include being intelligent enough to worry about their love lives, statuses at their jobs, their place in the world, and being accepted by their peers. Humans and dogs are comparable on every level. Without issues, dogs would not have any sort of intelligence or would not be able to make decisions on their own about their lives.

Mayberry 6

Mayberry 7

Works Cited Eichler, Glenn, and Joe Infurnari. Mush!: Sled Dogs with Issues. New York: First Second, 2011. Print.