Shelter Tales
The first dog I worked with on my own after my volunteer training at the local animal shelter was Rowsey. A big, handsome guy who never met a person he didn’t like, he quickly dispelled any ideas I might have had about going to the shelter to “walk” the dogs. Never mind walking, Rowsey was a persistent jumper.
Of course there are still some remnants of folks in dog training who make the case that dogs jump because they want to dominate you. Seriously? Take another look at Rowsey – if he wanted to ‘dominate’ me, he’s got the weight to do it. Not even counting what he could do with his teeth, this boy could knock me on my butt in a flash.
I like the theory that dogs jump as a way of greeting because they want to get close to your face. I like it because it suggests a course of action to discourage the behavior – don’t greet them when they jump. For me, that means I turn my back on a dog when they jump.
With Rowsey, in the first few minutes out in the exercise yard, I did nothing but turn my back to him. Each time I did, I’d say out loud, “that’s not how to get what you want.” I can’t say hearing this had any effect on him, but it did serve a purpose – it reminded me that he was just trying to say hello.
He wasn’t a persistent jumper because he was bad, he was just super excited: he really, really wanted to do a meet-and-greet. He had a whole lot of affection to share and it was busting out all over. But that great meet-and-greet he wanted couldn’t happen till he quit jumping. Turning away from him communicated that.
Frankly, it might not seem all that interesting to keep turning your back to a dog till they learn to give it up. But looked at another way, it’s fascinating. Dogs are, after all, a different species and when they jump up to say hello, they’re trying to communicate. They’re greeting you and trying to start a conversation.
Honestly, how cool is that? “Hello!” they shout, and when that doesn’t work they’ll quit shouting hello. Now it’s your turn - quick, show them what you will respond to, like them keeping four paws on the floor. The dog communicates that they want to interact, you communicate the interactions you won’t accept and then the ones you will. Between you, you keep the conversation going.
I said earlier that I like the ‘they jump to say hello’ theory because it offers me a way to respond. Another reason I like it is that it works. At the shelter I’ve worked with some pretty dedicated jumpers, and this strategy has worked with every one of them. And once we’ve crafted an understanding about how to say hello, we can move on to other things the dog has to tell me.
Sometimes the goal of dog training is looked at as getting to the point where the person gives commands and the dog obeys them. I like a different idea about the goal – we learn to read each other’s cues and between us we create a relationship that satisfies us both.
For more on my work with shelter dogs visit my blog at eudorawatson.com, Rowsey’s post is near the bottom of the second page.
Resources
This website has many free, helpful videos on specific aspects of dog training. It also has thought provoking blog posts – like this one reminding us that dogs are a different species and the price that’s paid when we forget that: The Problem with Common Sense and Dogs
Out in the Yard
The heavy snow that fell a couple of weeks ago is giving way to the stronger sun these days, and the birdbath that had sported a tall cylinder of snow was bare-headed by the end of yesterday’s sunny day.
The lilac that my good friends gave me a year ago, as part of a collection of plants they gave me when my sister Melissa died, has reappeared after being entirely entombed by snow. The lilac is in shade for some of the day, especially at this time of year, so its release from the snow has been gradual. I had worried that mice might be turning it into a banquet under that safe covering of snow, but it looks unscathed.
There’s nothing to do now but keep that screening in place to keep the deer from sticking their noses in for a little feast, hope for the best, and see what happens in the next couple of months.
There are signs that spring is on its way, and it will take some adjusting. Whenever I am in one season, it begins to seem as though that season is what the world has to offer. I’m repeatedly taken by surprise at the beauty of the next season as it begins to unfold. In the last few days birds have begun to sing in the morning, and yesterday I say a cluster of tiny insects on the wing creating their own specialized dancing swirl. I know that soon I’ll be enthralled by spring – the reappearance of the grasses, the smell of damp soil, the wonder of swelling buds, the growing chorus of bird song that will soon contain the call of the red-winged blackbird announcing the change of season.
But in the meantime, I’ll try to remember to feel the cold on my skin, gaze across the snow that still covers the yard, and make the most of the early night falls that give an early-evening view of the stars. I’ll hold the wonder that is winter until it’s ready to leave.
Resources
This annual publication has focused on the seasons and what they might bring us for over 200 years. In 1997 an online version was launched. If you’ve never put your toes in these waters, give it a try.
And, here’s Wikipedia’s quick guide to the Almanac.
At the Writing Table
Yesterday, working at my writing table on paying bills and the odd chore that can fit in a few minutes here and there, I heard a soft sound. In a moment I realized it was my little rainbow maker on the window.
Even at 9:00 a.m. the sun was strong enough to charge its tiny solar cell and start the mechanism turning which would in turn set the hanging crystal in motion. On a bright winter morning I was treated to tiny rainbows gliding along the walls. And this morning at 8:58, I caught sight of the traveling minute rainbows rising up my wall, flowing onto the ceiling, and then reversing course and setting again, in a dance of pretty indecision as the crystal scatters them out, then turns past its midway point and calls them back.
Resources
Leave it to National Geographic to offer stunning photos and in-depth descriptions with great graphics. Just remember to poke your nose outdoors and check for your own rainbows on those days when rain droplets and the sun are shaking hands overhead.