I never got the impression that the dogs had any scientience at all! AND, if all the dog ladies are the same person, mother Earth, then why would Anya's death effect the next dog lady? The only way that it WOULD effect her is that ALL of the dog ladies are agents, like Glaeken, perhaps representing mother Earth, or humankind, something like that. But the way that it has gone down so far, there is no way that all the dog ladies can be only one, they have to be "many"!

Lexx

I've come to think of the ladies as extensions of a whole, one that is getting more desperate it seems. The dogs, well they seem attuned to their mistress's moods and wants. I just finished Infernal, so I'm not as far along as some of you. I'm sure there's something I'm missing.

Small spoilers for Bloodline and By the Sword:

Maybe...

[spoiler]
The lady is Srem and she says "I'm your mother" not because she is "mother earth", but because it is her bloodline that is responsible for all the O-DNA in the world today?

That would make her a mother of sorts and especially for Jack who is loaded with O-DNA.

Just another wild theory that popped into my head reading everyone else's thoughts in this thread.
[/spoiler]:dontknow:

Small spoilers for Bloodline and By the Sword:

Maybe...

[spoiler]
The lady is Srem and she says "I'm your mother" not because she is "mother earth", but because it is her bloodline that is responsible for all the O-DNA in the world today?

That would make her a mother of sorts and especially for Jack who is loaded with O-DNA.

Just another wild theory that popped into my head reading everyone else's thoughts in this thread.
[/spoiler]:dontknow:

Mines even more wild..

I never got the impression that the dogs had any scientience at all! AND, if all the dog ladies are the same person, mother Earth, then why would Anya's death effect the next dog lady? The only way that it WOULD effect her is that ALL of the dog ladies are agents, like Glaeken, perhaps representing mother Earth, or humankind, something like that. But the way that it has gone down so far, there is no way that all the dog ladies can be only one, they have to be "many"!

Lexx

why can't they be one spirit/soul/person/entity? rotten ole Rassyface has appeared in numerous forms including a woman.

not sentient? have you read Harbingers? MINOR SPOILER ALERT FOLLOWS: [SPOILER]Akitas RULE! the dogs are, in my opinion, just dogs. the breed and personalities are chosen to reflect the manifestation of the Lady and the need at the time. The 'keeter was needed to provide immediate and effective protection. Is could be killed but it was ready to give its life to protect the Lady and Jack.[/SPOILER]

we never see the same Lady and Dog twice. the significance of that, I think is substantial. sure, same Lady/Dog multiple times in one story but never in a new situation.

I also think it might be funny for Jack to strike up a conversation with lady and a dog and for her to think he's nuts- until a Lady and a Dog show up to laugh at him. "I would have thought you'd recognize your Mother a little better, Jack". lol

My own take, for those who care;

The lady is indeed Gaia, who appears in forms like Tulpas, or Avatars. There is a necessary extension of energy from the whole to make the being that is interacted with and if one of them is slain then it would affect the whole. The dog would seem to be an extension of her as well, and I think this goes back to prehistoric times, as dogs became domesticated they had a huge importance to primitive societies and that importance remains right down to today.