I opened my curtains this morning to see more snow gently falling. It was a beautiful sight but my heart sank. Not because of the likely GRIDLOCK I would be facing, and the IMPOSSIBLE TASK of getting to work through the RAGING TEMPEST and ADVERSE DRIVING CONDITIONS only EXACERBATED by the INCOMPETENT COUNCIL, because frankly that’s a load of old horses’ doings. The reason my heart sank was that I could already hear the bleating, oinking and squealing of the nation’s media declaring the freak weather conditions and trying to make it sound as exciting as possible in the unhealthiest way possible.

I used to be a Cat person. I could not stand the way that dogs do not seem to have an iota of self-respect. They will do anything you say just for your affection, they bark and yelp and lick and jump up and are, frankly, undignified. Then I saw a TV programme that changed my opinion. The truth of the matter is, we humans keep our dog companions in a state of retarded maturity. Wolf puppies bark. Wolf grown-ups just let out a little “huff” to one another when executing their attack. The program showed a litter of sheepdogs who were raised in the presence of sheep and were given commands en masse by the shepherd. As the litter grew up it became a pack. The dogs sorted out roles for one another and would work as a team to bring the sheep in, merely directed by the shepherd.

I was converted. Dogs are as smart as humans let them be.

To an extent. I imagine literacy is an issue amongst dogs attempting more academic subjects. But I digress.

I wonder whether (that’s a polite way of saying I’m convinced that) this can happen (is happening) with humans. It started with treating children as children only as opposed to adults-in-progress. I agree that children need protection, and I agree that some subjects are too complex or emotionally loaded to approach with small children, but it seems to me we miss many opportunities to help our children grow up and appreciate the challenges in the world around them. The result? Wind forward a few years and you have people living at home in their mid-30s, the nanny state, and b3ta. I didn’t say it was all bad.