What a Dog Wants

I’ve been quite close to several dogs in my lifetime to date.  From Rip to Heidi to Good Melvin, to Mancha to Anybody’s to Talulah to Louise to Evil Melvin to Sam to Nellie to Odin to Ynez to Zoey, I’ve been (mostly) blessed with some fine dog buddies. Even the ones that were pains in the bum occasionally had their winning ways.

                I’ve always felt I could communicate pretty well with the dogs with whom I’ve partnered. Which is not to say any of them ever really listened to what I had to say. A dog trainer told me that we were there to train me, not Sam. Sam already know how to sit, stay, stand, walk, bark or not, pee or not. And he knew how to listen attentively. So, why couldn’t we work together seamlessly? It turns out that what the team was missing fairly closely matched my own deficiencies. Sam was all set, but Michael had some problems with communications. I just needed to learn how to tell the dog what was expected. And of course, to manage my expectations.

                Turns out, it’s not always reasonable to expect a dog to be interested in doing what I want it to do. And the problem becomes larger if I fail to learn to make sounds and signals that convey meaningful intent to my dog buddy.   And if I don’t put in the time required for the dog to learn that the easiest path lies in doing what I ask him to do, forget it. What a dog wants is clear and loving direction.

                I’ve failed once again with our current dogs, Odin and Zoey.  It’s not too late. All I need do is start being consistently and firmly communicative with my canine buddies. I’ll start tomorrow.

                Or not.