Training has begun. Not for a job, not for a tournament…oddly
enough, training has begun for my pups. As it turns out, I think they turned
the tables on me this time. Allow me to explain.
I have two dogs – a Border Collie and a German Shepherd
Hound Mix. Schafer is 6 and Ava is about 3. I’ve had Schafer since 2007 and he
had some obedience training. Ava, on the other hand, has little to no obedience
training – she is a good dog though. Lately, I’ve been noticing some idiosyncrasies
with the both of them. Schafer isn’t coming when he is supposed to, though
after a few calls, he comes. Ava, when off leash, just does her own thing and
comes when she wants to. She’s also extremely hyper when we come home, or when
we pull out the leash. She gets so excited that her tail moves her whole body.
Whenever you go to pet her, she just about dies with excitement and can’t wait
to kiss you all over. If you’re petting someone else, she will butt right in
for pets. Schafer lately has been growling at dogs when we meet them on the
street. He’s not being aggressive, but I realized he’s picking up on me and how
I react to dogs. He also gets fixated with toys and sometimes I’m afraid that
if a small child were to try and play with him, he would play like normal and
be too strong for the child. Since we don’t have kids (yet), I can’t really
warm either of them up to kids and have them get used to kids on a regular
basis. All of these things got me thinking – I need to start a training
program.
So, last night, I started reading Cesar Milan’s book about
dogs and it was extremely insightful and helpful. I couldn’t put it down.
Yesterday and today, I started implementing some of his tips and tricks. It’s
only been a matter of hours, but already, I can see signs of improvement. Here
are some of the things I’ve been implementing:
1 - Feeding time: They already know to wait before
diving ino their kibble. I’ve now been running my hand into their kibble, while
they’re eating so that they know, that Mom is their Alpha.
2 - Going outside: Yes, it’s tedious and time
consuming, but I have them sit before I even open the door. Once I open it, I
step outside first, then they follow. This shows them that they are following me,
I’m the pack leader (Not to mention it stops the stampede from the ‘who’s going
to get outside first rush’)
3 - Me. They react to my emotions both good and bad.
If I am in a bad mood, they will pick up on it, especially Schafer. So
yesterday and today, I’ve really worked at keeping a calm, even mood around
them. If Ava gets jumpy, I walk away and ignore her. If I’m petting Schafer as
a reward for being calm and she gets pushy, I ignore her until she calms down,
then I pet her. But through all if it, I am trying to remain as calm as
assertive as possible.
These are only a few things I will be implementing in my dogs’
life and structure. They need it – they’re not humans. We can’t treat them as
such, even though I love them dearly.
Another thing this training has brought to mind is perhaps
how God deals with us sometimes. You see, when we’re given free reign, no boundaries,
we either don’t know what to do and get overwhelmed and get bouncy (like Ava)
or, we just go our own way with sometimes no consideration for others (Schafer
at times). What I’ve begun to realize is that, perhaps, we are in “in training”
as well. I look at some of my behaviors and realize that there are things I
should modify. Maybe how I act, or how I speak to a specific person. Then I
think that maybe God is training me as well. When Schafer or Ava do something wrong,
like kick up grass after relieving themselves, they get a collar correction. It’s
a tug on the collar, not enough to hurt, with verbal command they associate
with “That was wrong”. Eventually, they get it and they don’t do that behavior
anymore. I wonder sometimes if God has
been collar correcting me and I haven’t noticed. There are times when I will
tell Ava to sit and she doesn’t. She just looks at me. Then, maybe after the 3rd
time, she will do it. It takes so much effort to not get frustrated, angry and
stomp off in a huff. That behavior does me no good and it certainly doesn’t do
my animals any good. I can’t imagine what it must be like for us as humans to
simply tell God no. I know I’ve done it – when there been that little tug in my
spirit to do something and I choose not to. It’s also funny to liken Ava’s
behavior with ours sometimes. She can get so impatient for that walk or that
affection that she pushes and pushes to get it. When this happens I ignore her –
I have to. I can’t praise that behavior because she will continue it and will
probably get worse. When she has calmed down, I will then give her the
affection she so desires. Maybe that’s how God is with us. When we want
something SO badly, we jump up and down, do circles, push our way in, to make
sure God knows what we want. But He already knows. Maybe he’s waiting for us to
calm down (surrender) before we receive it. Being a Dog Mom is a 24/7 job. It can be
tiring. It is a responsibility and yet I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I set
out yesterday to train them, to bring about the good behavior that I know
resides somewhere in all that fluff. The funny thing is, I think at the end of
it, I will also be receiving training from my Alpha and Omega.
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