Participant-observation, according to DeWalt and DeWalt (2011), is the defining
methodology of cultural anthropology (p.1) This methodology involves “a researcher take[ing] part in the daily activities, rituals, interactions, and events of a group of
people as one of the means of learning explicit and tacit aspects of their life routines
and their culture” (DeWalt & DeWalt, 2011, p.1). Long term participant-observation provides opportunities for anthropologists to become involved in the lives of their
participants, including what they are doing on a daily and periodic basis. Comprised
of several methods at once, such as analysing documents, self-analysis, life-histories,
direct observation, and participation in group life. Participant-observation, as the
above quote suggests, is primarily concerned with studying humans. However, I did
not see any reason why I could not use this methodology to research greyhounds.
Since greyhounds were my primary participants for this research, I thought that it
was imperative for me to conduct participant-observation with them. I did this on
and off for a period of six months. At the race course, for example, I observed
greyhounds race, taking note of their posture and body language so I could learn and
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When volunteering at the adoption agency I again immersed myself into their world.
I walked greyhounds on a leash, accompanied with them to the vet, washed
greyhounds in the bath shown below (figure 3.), visited them in their kennels,
watched how they behaved with a cat and small dogs, observed them play in the dog
paddock both alone and with other greyhounds, and saw them interacting with
human staff and adoptive families. I also took note of how individual greyhounds
interacted with me since every dog would try and get my attention in different ways.
Some tried to get my attention quietly whilst others would whine.
Lastly, I visited greyhounds who had been adopted. I observed how these dogs
behaved in their home, watched how they interacted with their owners, joined them
on walks, watched them with other greyhounds and other dog breeds, and took note
of how they learnt about the changes in the world around them.By doing all of this, I
gained insight into how greyhounds think and change throughout their rite of
passage.
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My participant-observation showed me that assumptions I had before starting
fieldwork were unfounded. According to Becker (1970 as cited in DeWalt &
DeWalt, 2011), this is not an uncommon occurrence. He states that participant-
observation methodology allows for researchers’ expectations to be resisted and tested, by the words and actions of those in the field (Becker, 1970 as cited in
DeWalt & DeWalt, 2011, p.10). One assumption that I had before starting fieldwork
was that most ex-racing greyhounds would struggle with stairs and slippery floors
when entering a house for the first time. This assumption was based upon what I had
heard from other people and in turn, what they had heard. I came to find that this was
not always the case and depended on the personality of each individual greyhound.
To conduct participant-observation with greyhounds, I had to establish rapport, just
like I would with any human participants. To help me do this I took in to account
bioanthropologist, Barbara Smuts (2001), research into baboons. Not long after
entering the field Smuts (2001) noticed that baboons would look at her. She ignored
this on advice from previous baboon researchers. However, after some time
observing baboons, she discovered that they acknowledge each other’s presence by giving and sharing brief eye contact. In turn, Smuts (2001) found that baboons do
not see being ignored as a neutral act, but as offensive. Because of what she
discovered through participant-observation, Smuts (2001) began to greet baboons in
the same way they acknowledged each other. She did this by making brief eye
contact or grunting. When she behaved this way, the baboons paid less attention to
her. Smuts, therefore, argues that her baboon participants read her signals to learn
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the baboons treated me as a social being, and to gain their trust I had to learn
the troop’s social conventions and behave in accordance with them. This
process gave me a feeling for what it means to be a baboon. Over time, I
developed a sense of belonging to their community, and my subjective
identity seemed to merge with theirs (Smuts, 2001, p.1).
Smuts’ work inspired me to observe my greyhound participants to understand how they greeted and behaved around each other. I wanted to learn what they found
offensive as well as socially constructive. This was so I could learn what it means to
be, how to approach, and interact with greyhounds in a manner they saw as sociable,
which would aid me in establishing rapport with them. For instance, dogs do not like
direct eye contact. They find this to be a threat so I knew not to look greyhounds in
the eyes in case this aggravated or scared them.
In saying this, unlike with Smuts (2001) research with baboons, I found establishing
rapport with greyhounds to not be very difficult. This I attribute to greyhounds
having being around many different humans during their racing career and also due
to my previous, although limited, experience with dogs before starting fieldwork. In
addition, dogs are ingrained into our western culture, more so than baboons. We
keep them as pets, call them “man’s best friend,” and see them every day even if we
do not own them ourselves. Therefore, even though I had not had much experience
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Silence
Silence is a useful tool for any anthropological investigation that involves non-
human animals. It provides a way to gather information when language is absent.
Within silence, multispecies ethnographers must use and rely upon their senses other
than hearing and in turn language, to learn about their participants, like sight and
smell. They must find a way to communicate without words, such as through body
language. As Glenn (2004) writes, in silence there is a manner of knowing, a way to
engage, and an approach to understand what is happening when there are no verbal
languages (p.xi). This was how I approached my research with my greyhound
participants as I could not communicate with them symbolically through language.
Apart from me saying the occasional “no” or calling a greyhound’s name, there was no other symbolic vocalisations.
Just like Glenn (2004) notes, I discovered that the absence of words was just as
powerful as the spoken word (p,xi). I was initially concerned about how I could gain
insight into the ways greyhounds viewed their transition from racing dog to pet,
including the changes in their surroundings. I did not have to be worried, however,
because during my silent interactions with greyhounds I could holistically look at
greyhounds lives no matter what stage of their rite of passage they were in. This was
by looking at and taking note of everything that was happening in different
situations, including how a greyhound was presenting their body language, which
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could also think about how the grass might feel under their feet or how a pee spot3
smelt to them and what it might communicate to them.
Through this, I could learn a lot about how greyhounds were dealing with their
transition. If I interpreted greyhounds behaviour, without overly anthropomorphising
them, I could potentially learn how they were feeling and seeing the world around
them. This is by observing their body language and how they were acting in different
situations and around people. For instance, I came to understand that a greyhound
was anxious about arriving at the adoption agency if they were keeping to
themselves or close to their trainer, shaking, and not making any vocalisations.
Silence was also a valuable tool for understanding what my human participants and I
were communicating to greyhounds through our own body language. As Hall and
Hall (1971) state, “humans also send and receive an enormous number of messages without even uttering words” (p.16). This is through “gestures, facial expressions, posture, gait, body movement, and eye contact” that greyhounds can use to learn about the humans they interact with (Hall & Hall, 1971, p.16). Greyhounds observed
and reacted to me using their own body language, making an ongoing silent
conversation. The silence, thus, provided a way for me to take note of and
understand what I and other humans, including trainers, rehoming agency staff, and
new owners, may have been communicating through our body language and the
subsequent responses from greyhounds, which I interpreted using ethology. I discuss
this more in Chapter Four.
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I did find that I needed patience when working in the quiet between greyhounds and
I. Due to being around few dogs growing up, I did not have much experience reading
their language. Additionally, I had no experience with greyhounds so I had to learn
about their specific breed. Nevertheless, I found the silence with greyhounds to be a
powerful site and mode of inquiry after I gained confidence around them.
Furthermore, I found the working in silence heightened my own reflexivity and
enhanced my other senses since I was no longer relying entirely on language to
understand what was happening. I, subsequently, became more self-conscious of my
body language and what this not only communicated to greyhounds, but my human
participants as well.