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LESSONS FROM MY DOGS
Last Updated 4/25/2006
A dear friend has encouraged me to include this page on my website. The following story (04-10-2005), edited for the understanding of those who don’t know us, is what prompted that suggestion. As a trainer, you would think this would have occurred to me before, but NOT! LOL Every dog I have worked with over the years has taught me something, whether small or monumental. But none probably so much as the canines I share my life with. There are far too many lessons to recount here, but I can start today sharing those with you. As they teach me new things and we learn together, I’ll add those adventures as well.
04/10/2005
Xander has had one long-standing phobia. He is CONVINCED he will slip on the tile at the church. We have floors here at home that are more slick and don't worry him at all. But that tile at the church is EVIL. He just knows it! Of course, because he gets stressed about it, he tries to get across those stretches of floor as fast as he can. Then, guess what? He slips. Hellooooo!!!! So, he was getting to where he would stand in the doorway and whine for me rather than follow me across it. (There is truly nothing more pathetic than an 85 lb GSD crying for his mommy. LOL)
So, last night I spent a few minutes teaching him a new command, "slow," and guiding him on leash. Essentially teaching him how to walk on the tile. I braced him a couple of times to let him know I would not let him fall. That did the trick. He relaxed and was able to pay attention to what I was showing him. After about a handful of repetitions, I let him negotiate it on his own with me close by. At one point, he started to skuttle across it, but I reminded him "slow" and he immediately slowed down and started paying more attention to where he was putting his feet. By the end of about 15 minutes of working with him, he was actually walking on it normally and I was across the room from him, reminding him to take it "slow."
I'm going to take him up there a few times this coming week and see if we can kick this weird phobia for good. He was so proud of himself last night for walking across that floor and not slipping. Made me want to cry. I made a HUGE fuss over my wonderful, brilliant boy! And he pranced around like he had just conquered Godzilla single-pawed. J
So he learned a new command, built his confidence in one of the very few things in this life that intimidate him, and his trust in and bond with me grew. I, as the human counterpart of this team, learned just how far a dog’s love, trust and faith could take us both. It may not have been a mountain to climb or a catastrophe to avert, but it was a battle to win. And we came out proudly on top of that battle! A dancing dog, head and tail high, eyes bright, and a HUGE grin splitting his face, was all the reward I needed.
04/25/2006 – LESSONS LEARNED – What the death of my Annie taught me.
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