Ever since I was part of the brood, and just a few months old, I've celebrated my individuality, my particular personality, my talents and my tendencies; my Agency. I tried out different strategies in my search for a place at the food bowl, found out what individual maneuvers I could use to get the most care from my mom. My Agency is the identifying talents, viewpoints and actions that I bring to the table in my role as a dog, as a part of the pack, as an organism struggling to exist on the earth. My Agency is provocative, it has a spin, a bent.  In its purest form, my Agency is what I would do if other animals and their considerations didn't exist. Unbridled ego in pursuit of passion and pleasure, with a little of the old ultraviolence.  Buffy Bond 007 at your service.

 If I could be like a human for a day, and wanted to live large, and pursue the limits of my imagination; I'd be Buffy Bond 007, licensed to bite. On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Very secret.  I only know that the cause is just and the means will be..........well, somewhat unorthodox.  I might have to take out a few bad guys, but there will be no doubt that they are bad guys(or gals).  I would employ my Agency in the service of the many, but do it my way, unrestrained and independent.   James Bond, Matt Helm, Jason Bourne, The Man From Uncle and Jack Bauer.  They were all Agents; loners, independent and sometimes reckless. We love to watch them because they can dispatch villains without the need for judges and juries, without the need for social considerations.  Everything they do turns out right because that's the way the scriptwriter pens it.  I wish it was that way in the dog world.  It would be great if I could use my Agency and take out the cats that threaten my comfort, or the other dogs that try to chew on my chow.  My Agency at its purest, if it's not limited in some way, has no morality, is completely selfish, is like a shark; mindless, seeking only self gratification.  Ummm, maybe that wouldn't be so great after all.  Licensed to kill, without any allegiance except to myself, sounds like the makings of a mad dog.  What would my master think, what would the other dogs think, who would aid me if I got in a jam, who would invent all of my gadgets. My Agency needs a leash, a tether, a collar. It's the presence of the other that provides that yoke, that anchor. It weighs me down at times, it's annoying, it takes the I away from me and makes me consider my actions in light of other's reaction.  Agency and Communion are competing interests within; my Brain battling my Heart, it's a doggon' dilemma that confuses my cognition at times.

A dog has a limited slate of such dilemmas to deal with in deciding when to use her Agency, and when to follow the crowd.  We're pretty happy when we get to lead the walk once in awhile, or get a response when we bark to go outside or need food or water.  Our ancestors the wolves were more the Secret Agent types, especially the less social Lone Wolves.  Humans have many more competing influences that demand the discriminate use of Agency, and the weighing of the interests of the one and the many.  Even James Bond fell in love at times, gave into the need for communion with society. There are different types of animals out there.  Some are more inclined to be Agents, others are willing to lose there identities in communion. I guess this dog is a Secret Agent only in my daydreams.  Bond never got to sit at home and feel the warmth of the hearth, he was always looking for the next bit of excitement.   He could never trust his friends, for they often turned out to be the enemy.  I guess Secret Agency might not be as glamorous as it looks. Does anyone have a milkbone I can gnaw on in front of the fire?

Buffy Bond
Licensed Dog (Village of Wind Point)