Monday, March 15
New Moon in Pisces
43 degrees, cloudy, feels like spring
I’ve started training my dog again. After the early six week puppy course and a one-day workshop with the ‘dog-whisperer,’ I had to admit that my 16 month old Tibetan Terrier puppy was not completely grokking the concept that he needs to listen to me.
I’m a freedom loving sort myself, so it is no mystery to me that my dog prefers freedom above all else. Meaty dog treats, tennis balls, free ranging chickens, hold no appeal to him when the sound of the open road is calling.
Even when I am inside, Louis prefers to sit on the hill outside and stare into the distance; feel the wind on his furry face.
But he is a boy, and his roaming instincts were starting to take over.
His sitting on the hill soon became his wandering down to the road. Our long hikes in the woods became opportunities for him to visit every dog buddy of his in a five mile radius.
He always came back. But sometimes hours would pass. He never came immediately when I called him, as better trained dog owners would boast of their dogs. In fact, he was running his own show. Listening to his own inner puppy about the protocols of life.
And while I’m not, at root, a controlling person, it’s easy to see the problems a young dog might get into in my neck of the woods.
First, of course, there is the sweet tasting, and deadly, antifreeze. A common dripping residue on many a driveway, especially in the frigid northern climes in which we live. Second, our woods are teaming with armed hunters. At all times of the year, there are people shooting pheasant, grouse, deer, bear, moose, turkeys, bunnies, coyotes. A small brown and white dog, no larger than an adult pheasant, could easily become the recipient of a shiny new .22. So far, all our neighborhood dogs are friendly, but we’ve all heard the story of that one big Rottweiler or German Shepherd, that killed a smaller dog with one swing of the neck.
So, for all of those, and many other reasons, it is time to discipline the dog.
Now. Although our first couple of weeks of training with a new trainer have been pretty miserable, there are some good lessons coming through. To go back to square one and force the pup to walk on a four foot lead, and face such indignities as forced ‘come,’ ‘sit,’ ‘stay,’ is pretty demeaning to a smart and precocious puppy. But I’ve already begun to notice some differences in his behavior.
But more importantly is the constancy, patience, and practice that this work involves. It is a daily practice we must undertake. Ten minutes a day is all, but every day. It is a discipline. No getting lazy, no skipping days. It is as much a training for me as it is for him. Some would say, even more.
I just read in a book by Atul Gawande, that the difference between professional sports players, musicians and artists and the rest of us, isn’t that they have the ability to practice more than the average person. It is that they have the WILL to practice more than the average person. When we say, oh, forget it, I’m tired today, they will force themselves to the piano, or the ice rink, or shoot another 50 free throws. It is not raw talent that separates the stars from the couch potatoes. It is pure will.
And so, off the couch, into the woods, for another session of puppy training 101. Or really, owner training. For as every good dog owner knows, it’s never the dog, it’s always the owner!
