A family had a dog that they got tired of because of all the fuss involved in caring for it, so they put it in a fenced in area in the yard with a shed, and just threw some food out to it, mostly scraps left over from meals, and never paid attention to it. As time went on the dog which was only about two years old, began staying in the shed, and wouldn’t even come out to eat. The grownups just threw the scraps inside the pen and left. This went on for weeks.
One day one of the children, a six year old daughter, named Maria, went out into the yard. It was a happy, sunny day. The dog was not her pet, and she never had much to do with it, so thought of the dog never crossed her mind. But, this day when she went into the yard, and didn’t see the dog, she wondered what happened to it. She went into the pen and walked in. The dog was just lying in the corner, not asleep, just lying there with his eyes wide open as if in deep thought, or maybe just sad. When Maria approached, the animal began to growl softly, which frightened Maria so she backed away. The dog had never acted like that when it was in the house.
The girl could not understand, so she just talked to the dog for a while and then went outside to play. For the next four or five days the girl did the same thing, and the dog showed no reaction. On the sixth day, Maria went into the pen and called the dog by its name, Sammy. Maria had brought some food she thought Sammy would like and in an aluminum bowl he was familiar with. She tapped on the bowl with a stone and called the dog again. When the dog heard the familiar sound of the bowl, he appeared in the doorway and just stood there and looked out at Maria. When she bent down to put the bowl on the ground, Sammy slowly and timidly walked towards the bowl. He smelled it and looked up at Maria, and hesitatingly began to eat, but looked up as if for approval, then continued eating. Maria just stayed there and talked to him, but was afraid to touch him.
For the next two days, Maria followed the same routine. Finally, the following day, when the dog finished eating, he walked over to Maria, who standing there watching, and looked up at her. She bent down and petted him gently. Then the little animal licked her hand and she reached out and hugged him. From that day the dog’s personality changed completely. He was friendly and playful and fun. All that was lacking in that animal’s life was love. Being deprived of love does strange things to animals, and they can become hostile.
It is the same with people. When a person is deprived of love, strange things happened inside, and they begin to die, and the feeling of being unloved can turn to hatred, and can lead to dangerous antisocial reactions. This can even happen on the international scene, and shows that no matter how powerful or sophisticated world leaders may be, they respond to very primitive instincts. A little psychology can go a long way in resolving many tense international crises.
