Training Oz

Dogs make me laugh. Almost every day they make me laugh. Today, I was working with my 6-year-old Papillon, Oz. I’m supposed to being doing daily exercises with him to strengthen his body so the subluxation in his back doesn’t cause him too many problems. I’m not very good at anything “daily.” Anyway, I was busy teaching him how to do a 10 second bow which should stretch his back out nicely. Being an acting dog, teaching him this trick was relatively simple. The next trick was much more difficult.

I wanted Oz to lift one rear leg. Theoretically, it sounds simple enough. Just lift one rear leg and not move anything else. I tried a light tap on that rear foot to indicate a lift. This was how he learned to give me his “foot” -- one front paw. He knows how to wave his front paws and he was waving them to beat the band. He was whacking me with those front paws: one, two, one, two, but I could not convince him to lift that back leg. He got so frustrated with my confusion (you see, he is quite convinced in these moments that I am the slow one, not he) that he began to offer me his new behavior that I had only gotten by luring until now -- the bow. He offered me many, many bows in all kinds of directions. A bow to the left, a bow to the right, and a bow with the head down position. Pretty fancy stuff and I must admit that I rewarded him well for his efforts. But I also continued to bother him for that rear leg.

Frustrated that these gestures did not appear to satisfy me, he offered me a side position, he rolled over, begged, and by now, I could not breath I was laughing so hard. He was offering these behaviors so fast and furious I couldn’t get my little finger back to his rear foot if I tried. Each time I tried to tap my finger against that rear foot, I set off an explosion of new behaviors but not one of them resulted in a lifted rear paw. Oh, how I laughed at his adorable face and the look of total consternation! He finally resorted to his mean dog face where he attacks my hand growling and biting and we called it a day.

I love that a dog can give me so much of his heart -- he gave me 150% effort today. Who can ask for more than that?!

Time spent with a white german shepherd puppy

Today, I spent time with a 15-week-old white german shepherd puppy and she told me a few things. For example, she pointed out that all work and no play is just plain silly. And she rolled on her back and stuck out her tongue to make that point. But first, she had to put her little paw around my neck and tell me to relax and enjoy my day (it is my birthday after all)… and so I did.

I love working with puppies because, like young children, they are so in the moment and unsullied from months of bad habits or misguided training attempts by their owners. And this little girl is no different. She is right with us in every moment figuring out the best way to earn what she wants. At the moment, what she wants are treats and she sees that her human partner has placed the cup of treats on the stairs above her. “Chloe” realizes she can earn her treats one or two at a time by doing the down stays we have been requesting of her as we work on front door greeting behaviors or she can just snarf down the entire cup of treats, if she can just get to that cup. Clever girl that she is, she is now focusing on how to get up the stairs to retrieve those treats and has forgotten the task that we have requested of her. I laugh at her cleverness and bemoan the fate of her owner for while people always brag about having a “smart” dog, I always tell them they should feel sad, not happy about that state of affairs. I find that the truly smart dogs are among the most difficult to train as they are always thinking (and despite humans best efforts…most humans are kind of lazy when it comes to thinking about dog points of view and, hence, often befuddled by their dog’s behavior).

Today, Chloe reminds me that there really isn’t anything better than a nice belly rub to punctuate an important learning point. She says it will help her remember what she did correctly. I love the softness of the skin and fur on her belly. She is very warm and soft and snuggly. For a moment, I drift off in that sweetness. Dogs are wonderful that way. They allow me momentary escape into heightened sensory awareness. Momentary. Because just as quickly, she is up and moving again. Off to the next adventure. This time a power cord…and we are ready to set up her next lesson. So much to learn and teach. And a lifetime to explore together.

I enjoyed my short training session with the young white GSD. She made me smile, laugh, and feel good about life. Today was a good day.