As much as dogs are similar to people in common everyday experiences, they are also completely different from humans. They sense and experience their world in completely different ways than humans. Their world is shaped by scents, not colours. They move on all fours and use their snouts in all sorts of ways, much like we use our hands. Body temperature is regulated by breathing and not by sweating, except for the paws. Their vision is not dominated by colour.
We utilised methods developed in sensory anthropology during the sensory walk to explore the dog’s point of view. We walked with our pups and lead them along a path chosen by the leaders of the walk, Marie-Claire Pagano, a PhD student in behavioural informatics from the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Newcastle, and Rajko Muršič, PhD, ethnologist and anthropologist from the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana.
The walk took place in silence, without talking to each other or using mobile devices. Walkers devoted themselves entirely to the sensory perception of the space they were walking through: they observed, listened, smelled, if necessary and touched. However, this time they did it connected to their four-legged friends by focussing on and paying attention to the dog‘s ways of perceiving the surroundings.
We held a group dog walk with up to 12 dog guardians and their dogs in Ljubljana. We began the event with a 10-minute talk discussing and presenting the sensory walk rules, and the perspectives (sensory) of dogs. Dog guardians then dispersed for a 20-30-minute walk following their dogs who were attached to leads at all times. After the walk, we congregated back at the starting place to discuss how the walks went and any observations. In total, the event took around one hour and 30 minutes.
The participants could bring their dogs or puppys for a walk, several walkers could take part in the walk with one dog or puppy.
Applications were accepted until the places are filled (probably a maximum of 12 dogs) to the e-mail address rajko.mursic@ff.uni-lj.si .
Coordinator: Rajko Muršič, PhD, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts