The War of the Stray Dog

One of the wars started by canines was the War of the Stray Dog in 1925 between Greece and Bulgaria. It is little known outside of Greece and Bulgaria, probably not even known anymore in those two countries. It is also well known amongst weres.

The common explanation for the war is that a young Greek troop ran out into the no-mans-land between the two lines and Bulgarian sentries shot him. One version also claims that a Greek captain was shot. Greece sent troops just over the border, into Bulgaria, and demanded compensation, 6 million drachmas, an official apology and punishment of the soldiers who shot the Greeks.

The real reason was a lovers' spat. The young Greek soldier who was shot was a weredog, as was the so-called stray dog. They had been defying weredog law by staying together, alternating and offsetting their human and dog phases, for quite a long time. No one is sure how long.

The troop, the male, was killed, but the dog, the female, was not. And she disappeared. No one knows where she went or what happened to her. Some weres say she died of a broken heart. But she didn't. I know now because I met her this weekend. She is Oliva and she is still not fond of Bulgarians.

The Benandanti and Malendanti

Fighting broke out in our pack AO for which we have to broker a cease fire. It is between old foes.

The benandanti were a secret society of common folk magicians who lived in Italy, the northeast area called Friuli. They did mainly good magic to help in harvests, heal the locals, lift curses, etc.

The malendanti were the other side of the coin, evil sorcerers with whom the benandanti regularly fought, especially at harvest times.

Both groups were said to be able to assume animal forms. You guessed it, they were weres, dogs and wolves.

Benandanti means “good walkers” and were of course a clan of weredogs. Malendanti means “evil walkers” and of course were a clan of werewolves.

These 2 clans had been at each others throats, in this same area, since the ancient war between weredogs and werewolves. Now they are here, in Missouri, and causing problems for our mill surveillance teams.

We met with the elders of the Benandanti pack. Wolves of our pack met with the Malendanti pack. I can't say things went well. But we did get an opening.

I met a female of that Ben pack while there. Her name is Oliva and is the first weredog or person who I have met who has started a war.

Search and Rescue

One of these dogs is a very old friend of mine.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/14/magazine/14Mag-rescue-dogs.html?emc=eta1#1

Bobby the Dog

My old friend, Bobby, sent me this painting recently, a link to it, actually.

Bobby was one of the few survivors of the Battle of Maiwand, 2nd Afghan War, 27 July, 1880

Bobby was owned at the time by Sgt Kelly of the 66th Foot, who perished as 1 of the 11 who held out to cover the retreat of the survivors of that disaster. All of those galliant 11 were killed. Bobby survived with the small force of survivors. That survival haunts him to this day, that he did not go off somewhere, shift, and return to the fight as man or were. It wouldn't have mattered in the end as he would have died with the rest.

Bobby returned to England, spent some time recovering, as dog and man, but eventually found himself back in war, this time in France, at the carnage of the Somme, Loos and Passchendaele. After that war he fled to Canada, found a remote cabin and has been there ever since, living a quite and shifting life ever since. I visited him on my recent travels, to get some critical information that only he possesses.

Bobby is like no other weredog I have ever known. Sometimes he seems more like a wise werewolf, sometimes a mangled man, sometimes a damaged weredog, and sometimes he is something entirely differently, for which I cannot find words.

Note: The above painting is by an artist named Rod McIver who paints and writes, and who has helped Bobby very much in overcoming and dealing with his demons. Rod's web site is here: http://www.herondance.org.

Talking Dog

This is not quite how it works with weres, but still it is funny.

A weredog would just sit there and act dumb, then get into the fridge that night, and blame it on the cat, or maybe one of the kids, if need be.

Need a Global Catastrophe

Went to a packing meeting last night. New meeting place. Not sure I like it. Too much exposure, but lots of meat. I went with Caitlyn, who has become very well known in the pack, despite her youth and size. She, I and Warin are going east this weekend to meet with surveillance teams on Missouri who are watching puppy mills.

There was some growling at the meeting last night, disagreements over how certain things should be handled, such as the mills, JSOWTs and regular patrol teams, and overall views on the world and on humans.

Some weredogs think that what mankind needs is a global catastrophe that would shake humans out of their collective self-absorption and corruption, not to wipe out the species, but to get you all back on track. This attitude is based on the belief that things have gotten too easy for humans, who have become way too numerous.

I don't, myself, subscribe to this belief. but I know some weredogs, and a whole lot of werewolves, who do. It is a fantasy that goes way back for werewolves, that an asteroid or geological event would slam the legs out from under mankind, forcing them to reexamine their priorities and pack perceptions. And you have to admit, humans seems to harbor this same fantasy. Look at all the books and movies about the demise of man, zombies and asteroids and aliens and viruses that wipe out the human race or come close to it. Waterworld is one of Jack's favorite movies. When he and the boys watch it I can always tells they think it would be a glamorous adventure, staying alive in a Waterworld future. Yeah. Right.

It has happened before.

Another big change is that the pack now includes werewolves. This is a result of the new and recent era or collaboration and alliance between weres in the interest of fighting the neos. Even though I am in love with a were, I still get edgy around them, strange werewolves, and tend not to trust them.

Joppa Road

I have a respectable portfolio which is the result of two and a half centuries of living and learning and investing. My portfolio is divided amongst numerous accounts and aliases. They are held in various investment companies and financial institutions. But they are all plugged into the weredog network.

The weredog network is global and provides for the support and cohesion of al packs and dogs, which both contribute funds and time and passion. If something were to happen to me my funds would not languish and be eaten up by a gluttonous brokerage house. They would be accessed by the weredog network and transfered into the network. And if a dog finds him or herself in a bad situation and without funds, anywhere in the world, that dog is a call or a howl away form support. I had reason to tap into this support several times on my recent travels.

Weredog financial networks are based on very old models which derive from before man, when managing resources for large packs, such as food, also from Ancient Greece, a time greatly loved by werelore, and from the Crusades.

Joppa Road was the 40 mile stretch between the port city of Joppa and Jerusalem. During the Crusades it was considered the most dangerous 40 miles of road in the known world, known to Europeans, of course. Most Christian pilgrims landed at Joppa and traveled those 40 miles to Jerusalem. And many of them perished on that road.

The Templar Knights first formed to provide protection to pilgrims along Joppa Road. They were just 10 in the beginning, 10 men wanting to make a difference (and maybe a little bored). There were always at least 3 of them on that road, running security patrols.

5 of those 10 original knights were weredogs.

The ranks grew, then swelled. Crusaders joined the Templars, and the Hopitalers and Teutonic orders also, by the thousands. Weredogs were part of that throng.

Many weredogs started cycling through their dog-man phases without ever leaving the Templars. They fought on as man, then dog, then man, etc, without leaving the order. The Templars and Teutonic Knights have a very strong tradition and legacy within werelore. It is said that there were even a number of werewolves who joined clandestinely.

When the Crusades ended the Templars and the other orders returned to Europe to find new religious wars. The Templars were spread out all over Europe. The Templar financial system covered Europe and was the first international banking system. Templars were advisers and financiers to the kings and queens of Europe.

When Philip IV of France conducted his Templar pogrom in 1307, and seized all Templar assets in France, most of the Templar system survived, as other kings gave sanctuary to their Templars. Templar weredogs took note of that experience, of Philip's treachery and of how Templar assets, even some within France, survived.

We still run our network on that basic model, and it works well. I have not had to call on that support very often in my life, but I did, 5 times, over the past year, in my travels, and I can tell you the network extends everywhere, not just in Europe, but also in the Middle East and Asia.

Some people would say this sounds like socialism. But we weredogs are just following the laws of the pack, our survival instincts and the modern logics for networking and support. It is the same in all armies or any tightly-knit group that has a mission.

Dog vs. Rooster

This is interesting, mostly because the handler feared a rooster would, or could, hurt his dog.

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/war-dogs-veloci-chickens-in-afghanistan.htm

Paroled Pups

I saw Jared this week. He had to get scarce and lay low, due to pressures from neos and law enforcement. The fact that he is not a weredog is making things more difficult, in terms of his safety.

Anyway, he found a job in prison. Not as an inmate, but as a dog trainer, coordinator, actually. It fits his needs and personality for numerous reasons. He says he does more people training than of dogs.

Back in 2002 Missouri prisons started a program that allows prisoners to adopt and train dogs with behavioral problems or impairments that make their adoption difficult or impossible.

Pups for Parole is the name of the program.

He says they are effective, that close to 300 dogs have been given a second, or third or forth, chance and been adopted because of the program. And all of the prisoners in the program say that it has helped them, restored something in them.

2 cases that Jared told me stick in my mind. One is lifer for multiple murders, former carer criminal, biker gangs, scourge on society and all that, but is incredible with the dogs, especially puppies. He is large and menacing and covered in scary tattoos, but when he gets around dogs he is kind and gentle. With Puppies he talks baby-talk, acts more like a hair dresser. But he is dangerous to any of the other inmates or trainers who he thinks are not kind or gentler enough with the dogs. Last month he nearly ripped some guys head off for holding a puppy up high and playing with it like it was a toy airplane. He got solitary for a few days. But Jared says it is unlikely that there will be anymore flying puppies.

A blind female yellow lab arrived at the prison about 2 months ago. Jared did not give it much chance, tried not to get too attached to it, because he did not to take the emotional plummet when the dog failed. But that lab has become a star pupil, even helps to train and care for the other dogs, especially the puppies. She became surrogate mother for a litter of shepherd-mix puppies who came in who all were too young, and thus at risk. She immediately adopted them, started producing milk, miraculously, and nursing them. They are all fine now, out of the woods, and still run to her when scared or happy. But Jared fears the lab will never get adopted because she is blind.

Since Jared is laying low in prison, others have stepped up to take over the puppy mill teams. More on that later.

Full Moon

I get tired of hearing about werewolves and full moons. So much crap. Weres, wovles and dogs alike, can shift at any time, day or night. We are not restricted to full moons. The whole full moon thing is based on mankind's fear of and respect for full moons, which derives from other reasons.

Mankind has feared full moons since he first came down out of the trees and starting walking around in 2 legs. The reason is that large predators, those who tended to find men and women somewhat tasty, tend to hunt more aggressively in the week after a full moon. The increased illumination from a full moon makes hunting more difficult, prey can see predators in the brighter night, especially on nights of clear skies. Predators then get hungry, more ambitious, and take greater chances and go greater distances to find prey.

Mankind figured this out, and thus moon fear was born, for most, but not all. Some men, and women, live for the night. But they are the exception, not the fool.

For some of the same reasons, I love the night. Night is your friend. There is no need to fear the night, of the dark, of the forest at night, or even the moon. Fear is all in your head. You can acclimate yourself to the night just like you can acclimate yourself to water, or heights, or violence. The more domesticated a species becomes the more it forgets that.

Armor Sucks

In my recent travels I had the opportunity to run with some troops and get to know them and their gear. The M4 is basically an M16 with rails and bells and whistles added, the digitals cammies are being replaced with new cammies, Multicams, and body armor is as well loved and effective as it was in the Middle Ages.

Body armor makes up a big part of the modern warrior's kit. The only problem is that armor is crap. I weights you down, saps your energy and limits your range of motion. The troops I talked to in Afghanistan hate it, but wear it because they are ordered to do so.

One of the key factors in the English victory at the Battle of Agincourt was that the French, who outnumbered the English _ to _, and were attacking downhill, were attacking in armor. By the time the French knights crossed the distance between them and the English, and came into range of the English long bowmen, they had to have been exhausted, and could not fight as fluidly when they met the English.

Lesson: Do not carry or weight more than is necessary. Do not help your enemy. Do not be your own enemy.

I know of no telling of a werewolf ever wearing armor. Weredogs did, but under stiff protest and when they could not get out of it. Werewolves, however, did, supposedly, wear faux armor, leathers made to look like armor, but which were lighter and allowed greater movement. I have also heard telling of special cloth faux armor.

Suits are often just that, faux clothe armor, intended to impress friends and foe alike, to gain advantage on certain fields of battle, of both business and bedrooms. Me, I like to run beneath a full moon or hot sun with as little as possible to encumber me.

At the pack meeting tonight new guidelines were issues concerning body armor, new designs for weredogs, and werewolves. Never saw that coming.

Fenian Weredog

In my recent travels I was able to see an old friend, Sean, an Irish Wolf Hound by breed, weredog by species, Irish by God. Sean has an interesting past, and present.

Sean came over to America in 1856 in the flood of Irish that came over then. He fought through the entire Civil War. That is where we met, actually. After the war he was part of the Fenian invasion which in 1866 tried to provoke a popular uprising against the British in Canada. They were a bunch of Irish Civil War veterans, still drunk with the glory of that war and bored and eager to start another. Add to all that Irish anger and desire for a free and unified Ireland and it nows seems amazing to me that there were not thousands more involved in that ill-fated invasion.

A force of 1,000 Fenians attacked across the US-Canadian border and seized the town of St. Armand. They were veterans of war but did not have the numbers or the skills to achieve their goals. Civil War battles involved many thousands of troops hurling themselves at each other and artillery and cavalry and all the rest. What the Fenians needed to conduct was an unconventional warfare campaign. But none of them knew of that, had an inkling of those skills. I do now, but did not then, and did not until the following century, the one just passed, during my 2 stints in Army Special Forces, who are all about UW, born and bred for it.

Anyway, Sean and all the Fenians were put down and run off quickly by Canadian troops. Sean went west, like many of us.

I went to see him about funding for some projects. He is working now in finance, and has access to creative financing. But he has ben having problems at work. The rest of the suits with whom he works somehow got the idea that he is gay. He isn't. But in some way he gave the wrong impression, and he does not know how to fix it.

Weredogs, like dogs, and all canines, do not get the whole homophobia thing. Hell, I love to lick my balls, in dog form of course. I can't reach in human form. And don't even get me going on leg humping. True, usually dogs do that as a show of dominance. But not always.

Anyway, many packs depend on Sean and his position in finance. He is early in his current human phase and cannot lose this position. But he is not certain how to fix the situation. So I put him in touch with a werewolf I know who is very adept at figuring out and fixing tangled human webs. That was five months ago. Talked to him today. She and he are living together and shedding allot of fur together.

I don't know what to think of this trend which I see growing and spreading. It worries me. But I can hardly criticize, due to Dionna.

Technical Difficulties

I just figured out that many messages never posted that were supposed to have, and going back many months, especially prior to Xmas. Rectifying.

Ruminations on Humans

Chester - Ruminations on Humans

I do not understand humans. I have been living with humans for well over 200 years now and I still do not understand humans.

It’s not a Republican or a Democrat thing, or a conservative or a liberal thing. It is a survival thing.

All actions derive, ultimately, from the survival instinct.

First there was pack alphas, then tribal chiefs, then clans, villages, families, houses, bands, kingdoms, kings, nations, generals, dynasties, republics, presidents, companies, corporations, CEOs, consortiums, to the point we are at now where humans are barely and possibly not at all even in control of the impetus generated by the corrupted greed that is driving .....

Republics and democracy was a real game changer, there is no denying that. Some weres feared, still fear, that humans are not ready for such sharing of power. Representation is not natural, say a lot of weres, dogs and wolves. For primates and canines, for millions of years, survival was about strong leadership, stability and loyalty to the pack.

But things have changed. Nations are not packs.

One of the key changes is inequality of resources. The pooling of wealth by small groups and the scarcity of resources for large groups is a recently phenomenon, starting back only about 10,000 years ago, when mankind began farming.

Before agriculture it was impossible for large groups of any species to form. Large groups were too hard to feed, required large amounts of food.

The only exception to this was when large groups of weredogs and werewolves came together for large battles. This was fairly common, according to werelore, for several millennia.

With agriculture came cities, then kingdoms, the ability to feed large numbers of people. City dwellers no longer needed to hunt or gather. They only needed to go to the dining hall or market.

Larger farms meant larger cities, and larger armies, and then kingdoms, and monarchs. And kings used the same logic that pack alphas used to justify their leadership - divine selection, that they were chosen by the gods.

All leaders are tempted to abuse their power, for themselves and their families and friends, their tribe, their pack. Few can withstand that temptation, often to the detriment of their own pack, tribe, or nation.

This is what mystifies all us weres. All weres know that there is nothing above the good of the pack, the many, the collective. Greed, corruption and dishonor hurts the pack and ruins the legacy of the transgressor. But somehow you humans have turned greed into a virtue. How did you do that? We were watching you, living with you, fighting and loving with you, and we still don’t know how you did it.

Politics does not interest us . . . most of us. All the talk of conservatism and liberalism, capitalists and communists, labor and management, debt and taxes, states and federals, I have tried to follow it, to understand it. But I can’t. And I have come to a deeper understanding of it, one that every weredog and werewolf who I have ever told this to agrees. Politics is not about governing. It might have been in the beginning. But not now. Now it is about the human love of conflict. And conflict has been the key to human evolution ad survival.

But that is for another post and night. And besides, what could a simple weredog possibly know?