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It's a Dog's Life: Contemplating the Human-Animal Relationship

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It's a Dog's Life: Contemplating the Human-Animal Relationship IT’S A DOG’S LIFE: CONTEMPLATING THE HUMAN-ANIMAL RELATIONSHIP THROUGH DOG ADOPTION NARRATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES by NICOLE SILVESTRINI A THESIS Presented to the Folklore Program and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts December 2016 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Nicole Silvestrini Title: Its a Dog’s Life: Dog Adoption in the United States and the Performance of Adoption Narratives This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Folklore Program by: Dr. Lisa Gilman Chairperson Dr. Ed Wolf Member Dr. Phil Scher Member and Scott L. Pratt Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded December 2016 ii © 2016 Nicole Silvestrini iii THESIS ABSTRACT Nicole Silvestrini Master of Arts Folklore Program December 2016 Title: Its a Dog’s Life: Contemplating the Human-Animal Relationship through Dog Adoption Narratives in the United States Dog adoption is a popular way for people to find pets in the United States. With dog adoption comes dog adoption narratives, ideologically about the dog, told by humans for humans. Dog adoption narratives, a genre of personal experience narrative, enact a series of formalized conventions that reveal societal binaries, tensions, and anxieties in the interspecies relationship. Using an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, I highlight the way these narratives are performed, organized, and interpreted. By comparing the adoption narratives of two different groups, people who regularly visit dog parks and people who do dog rehabilitation work, I argue that these narratives yield insight about the way humans perceive dogs in the United States within the context of how humans themselves want to be perceived by other humans. Dogs become a form of cultural capital and dog adoption narratives a reflection of cultural attitudes towards, and informed interactions with, the human-dog relationship. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Nicole Silvestrini GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Indiana University, Bloomington DEGREES AWARDED: Master of Arts, Folklore, 2016, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, Folklore and Ethnomusicology, 2010, Indiana University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Human-Animal Relationship Storytelling and Personal Experience Narratives v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Professors Dr. Lisa Gilman, Dr. Ed Wolf, and Dr. Phil Scher for their guidance and assistance with my thesis. Special thanks to the Adoption Program and the Animal Humane Society, most notably the AHS Wednesday crew: Kyle, Laura, Linda, and Seth. Special thanks also to my participants Amy, Becca, Bryan, Edie, Frankie, Kate, Nancy, Laura, Rasta, Vida, and Wendy for putting up with my endless questions. I would also like to thank members of the Human- Animal Research Interest Group at the University of Oregon for their invaluable insights into my project in its early stages, particularly David Baumeister and Liz Curry. I would be off studying trickster tales if not for the guidance of Professors Fernando Orejuela and Sue Tuohy at Indiana University, so thanks for your encouragement to explore relatively unknown territory in the folklore discipline. I want to thank my family, Dawn and Skip Silvestrini, Mike Silvestrini and Briana Beck, for their support, encouragement, and willingness to help me move 1,850 miles from Minnesota to Oregon. I also need to thank Andrea Herbst whose mad editing skills, willingness to talk on the phone for hours, and pictures of thesis cats helped make graduate school bearable. To my colleagues and co-conspirators Amber Berrings, Jules Helweg- Larsen, and Talia Nudell, you are my underwire bra. I would not be here if you were not willing to hash things out with me for unreasonable amounts of hours. And of course, thank you to The Disreputable Dog (Dizzy), the best dog a girl could ask for. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Adoption Narrative and Social Meanings .............................................................. 3 Positionality ........................................................................................................... 4 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 5 Adoption Narratives’ Impact on Humans vs. Impact on Dogs .............................. 10 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................... 13 Chapter Outlines .................................................................................................... 15 Notes ................................................................................................................ 19 II. THE MUTT STRIKES BACK! RISE OF THE CHIWIENIEPOO: THE EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN AND DOG RELATIONSHIP IN THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES .............................................................................................. 20 “Human’s Best Friend”: Dogs in the 20th and 21st Centuries ................................ 21 Examples of Change in the Human-Dog Relationship .......................................... 23 Dog Adoption and a Brief History of Animal Welfare Organizations in the U.S. .............................................................................................................. 25 Attitudes Towards Animal Welfare Organizations ................................................ 27 A Brief Note on Dog Behavior and Interpretation ................................................. 32 Dog Breeds and their Stigmatization in America .................................................. 36 An Insider’s Perspective ........................................................................................ 41 Terminology ........................................................................................................... 45 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 49 Notes ................................................................................................................ 50 vii Chapter Page III. HE CHOSE ME: DOG PARKS AS PERFORMANCE SPACES AND THE CONVENTIONS OF THE CANINE ADOPTION NARRATIVE............................. 52 Dog Parks as a Performance Space ........................................................................ 52 Stories Told in the Dog Park .................................................................................. 58 Adoption Narratives as a Genre ............................................................................. 63 Wolfie: Thursday, July 14th 2016 .......................................................................... 72 Casey: Monday, July 26 2016 ................................................................................ 74 Lola: Tuesday, June 14th 2016 ............................................................................... 76 Frankie: Monday, August 30, 2015 ....................................................................... 80 What Dog Adoption Narratives Do ....................................................................... 82 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 83 Notes ................................................................................................................. 85 IV. “SHE’S YOUR KIND OF DOG:” ANIMAL SHELTERS, ANIMAL AGENCY AND DOG REHABILITATION ADOPTION NARRATIVES ................................. 87 How Adoption Preparation Adoption Narratives are Performed ........................... 87 What is Adoption Preparation? .............................................................................. 89 Dizzy ...................................................................................................................... 96 Chase ...................................................................................................................... 100 Vida ........................................................................................................................ 105 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 112 Notes ................................................................................................................. 113 V. THE TAIL END: ANALYSIS OF DOG ADOPTION NARRATIVES AND CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 114 viii Chapter Page Adoption Narratives and the Human-Animal Relationship ................................... 114 Adoption Narratives’ Social Impact for Humans .................................................. 115 The Shelter Dog Construct..................................................................................... 123 Performance: Places of Resistance and Reinforcement ......................................... 124 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 129 Notes ................................................................................................................ 130 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................
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