Leela plays with Ice

Oops, there are a lot of teeth on display here...but no need to worry, it's all "pretend."

That's Yvonne de Kock's Leela playing with her friend Ice, an American Eskimo Dog, in a park in NYC.

Luckily she has fully recovered from the nasty abdominal bites she got from a manically aggressive bulldog a few months ago, and from the equally nasty infection that followed. It's also very lucky that the experience didn't leave her with a permanent fear of other dogs. That sort of association can happen very easily in the doggy brain.

A normal properly socialized dog will love interacting with other dogs - it is very healthy and one of the things these gregarious animals most enjoy. It adds enormously to the quality of their lives. This doesn't mean they love each and every dog they meet. They have their likes and dislikes, their friends and enemies just as we do. But a normal dog, living by natural and ancient dog rules, will usually avoid conflict to the extent possible. Only while defending territory or competing over mating do even free-roaming INDogs seriously attack each other. I've seen them choose flight over fight more times than I can remember.

Compare them to the unfortunate pet dogs whose aggression is encouraged and aggravated by their idiotic, irresponsible owners. Dogs who can only interact with others of their kind by trying to kill them. How unnatural is that? Their owners probably think such pets give them a tough, macho image (oh how I wish people like this would express their violent side through video gaming, and leave dogs alone). All they are doing is actively depriving their dogs of one of the greatest joys of canine life: the company of other dogs.

Photos: Mark Zeldis, NYC