Draco and Buckbeak

[Sherry Gomes]

No: HPFGUIDX 176914

Random832:
What most people on Draco's side in this thread are saying is: the fact that
he's intelligent enough to be able to take Draco's words as an insult means
he is morally obligated to have a certain degree of impulse control in his
reactions to those words.


Sherry:
My experience with animals, 32 years working with guide dogs, a dog who is
not only constantly with me, but dependent on me to direct, correct, praise
and care for it, I can say that I never once thought Buckbeak reacted to
Draco's mere *words*.  Animals respond to tone, to body language, things
like that.  I can tell my dog she is a bad girl, in a high cute silly voice,
and she thinks I'm telling her she's great and wags and wiggles and is very
happy.  On the other hand, I can tell her she's good in a stern unfriendly
voice and she won't believe she's just been praised.  Voice inflection and
body language are all part of working with a guide dog.  I have to stand,
walk and move in certain ways to instill confidence in her, use hand
gestures, body and feet positioning along with verbal commands.  She
responds to the body language even if she doesn't know the words I've said,
or if I give the wrong command, like saying left when I mean right.  For
instance, to do a left turn, I say, Bianca left, with a slight question in
my tone to indicate that she should only turn if it's safe.  I accompany
this word by gesturing to the left, at her level, and my turning my body to
face the direction.

I always thought Buckbeak was responding to Draco's attitude and tone, not
his words.  That's something that makes complete sense to me.

Sherry