Sophie - The Art Critic

Earlier this week I was watching the video of Botticelli's Birth of Venus with my cocker spaniel Sophie on my lap. I had the volume on and was enjoying the music of Enya and marveling at Botticelli’s amazing masterpiece. Suddenly Sophie tensed up and started growling. At first I couldn't figure out what she was growling at. Then it dawned on me that she was staring at the screen and growling at the Zephyrs. She didn’t growl when the video focused on Venus or Horae (the Goddess of Seasons) but continued to watch intently. Sophie is a real sweet dog and rarely growls except when she is in protective mode or doesn’t like someone. What is interesting is that she doesn’t normally watch TV either.


This reminds me of another incident. My husband bought a small stone cocker spaniel sculpture for our garden. The first thing Sophie did when we set it on the floor was to go sniff under its tail. That is how dogs greet one another after all. She clearly recognized it as another dog possibly another cocker spaniel. Her tail was wagging and she kept trying to interact with the statute to get it to play.


These incidents could be anomalies or is it possible that art influences animals? Sophie’s response to the video was clearly negative. She felt threatened or was protecting me. On the other hand her response to the cocker spaniel statue was obviously welcoming. Many animal owners are often surprised by the emotional intelligence of their pets, their attempts to communicate with and sometimes even manipulate their owners. Not me. Not anymore.