The "Dog Listener"

Last night a “dog listener” by the name of Pat Wright gave a talk at my local library. The library anticipated that the talk would be so well attended that reservations were required to attend. I applied, but found that the talk was already full so that I was put on a waiting list. Yesterday afternoon I got a call that there were enough cancellations that I could attend. The community room at the library was indeed full, but I took a sugar cookie (I had to skip dessert to make it there at 6:30, so didn’t feel guilty) and found a seat.

I had no idea how much I was doing wrong, according to Ms. Wright. I’m sure that there are other dog experts with ideas that might differ to some extent, but her talk centered on four behaviors of a pack leader that Ms. Wright urged us dog people to emulate. According to Ms. Wright, most or all problems with dogs stem from confusion over who is in charge.

1. Pack leaders always eat first. According to Ms. Wright, before feeding our dogs we should always eat something ourselves in front of the dog. That signals to the dog that we have taken our share of the “kill” and now the lower ranked pack member may take what’s left. My routine has been to get up in the morning, take Olive for her first walk, come back home, measure out her breakfast into her bowl, then prepare my own breakfast (oatmeal, eggs, whatever). According to Ms. W I am putting Olive in charge of the food and ceding authority as pack leader. In addition, Ms. W recommended taking the food away after a certain amount of time if the dog did not eat it all. In fact, she recommended removing the bowl altogether and storing it out of her reach even if she ate all of the food; in a dog’s mind, the bowl is part of the kill, just as the bones are in the wild. In the wild, if the dog does not eat right away and walks off, something else (another dog, some other animal) will take it.
   
   
   This morning I made sure to eat my own breakfast before giving Olive hers. She seldom eats before mid-morning anyway, so it was not much of a change. In fact, I’m not even sure she noticed. Taking the bowl away is something I am more reluctant to do, as I don’t want to force her to eat if she doesn’t feel right. Olive usually finishes her breakfast by supper time, but sometimes will leave a nearly full bowl past noon. I might start by removing the breakfast bowl at noon, and the supper bowl at bedtime, though she usually eats her supper within an hour or so.
   
   
2. Pack leaders come and go as they please without any hellos or goodbyes. According to Ms. Wright, if a dog goes crazy greeting her human when the human comes home, she is expressing confusion over who is in charge. To make a fuss over the dog (“hi, Fido, did you miss me? Kiss, kiss, kiss) is to reinforce that confusion. The better thing to do is to first do whatever needs to be done, then attend to the dog if she needs to be walked or whatever.
   
   
   Olive doesn’t usually go crazy when I get home. She usually stays in her bed in an alcove under the window near the top of the stairs while I am out, and calmly comes out to see me when I get home. Nevertheless, last night when I got home last night I took care of a few items before taking her out for her late night walk. Again, not much of a change; I’m not sure Olive even noticed.
   
   
3. Pack leaders protect the pack. While we may think we are taking a pleasant walk through the park, in the dog’s mind we are out in a dangerous place. Remaining calm and reassuring signals to the dog that there is nothing to worry about. If the dog starts barking and we start shouting “stop barking! Be Quiet”, in the dog’s mind we are joining in with her barking.
   
   
   This is a bit more nuanced, so that I want to read one of the books Ms. Wright recommended to see what I might improve on. Only rarely does Olive bark at other people or dogs. When she does bark unexpectedly, I can usually calm her down in short order.
   
   
4. Pack leaders take the lead. We should be deciding where and when to do things, not the dog. Ideally, when a human walks a dog on a leash, the leash should form a “J” between the human’s hand and the dog’s collar. When a dogs pulls at the leash and jumps around, she is not sure who is supposed to be leading.
   
   
   Again, I will need to read up on this. I am hoping that the upcoming obedience class will provide ways to establish myself as the leader. Even as I am writing this Olive is pestering me for a walk. Well, I think I could let Olive choose where to poop (as long as it’s not in the house).

Ms. Wright was a student of and English dog listener by the name of Jan Fennell. The book Ms. Wright recommended is “The Dog Listener” by Ms. Fennell. I only hope that the book is better laid out than Ms. Fennel’s website, which is cluttered, confusing, and disorganized!

Finding an Obedience Class

I have not given up on getting Olive into a herding class at Nutmeg Farms, a training facility not far from Hartford that uses real sheep. I decided, however, that a more basic obedience class would be a better first step, then perhaps we will go to Nutmeg in the Spring.

My town's parks and recreation office listed some dog training classes in its Fall brochure. One, titled "Dog Focus", sounded like a good one for Olive. The class description indicated that it was for dogs who are obedient at home but seem to forget everything when out and about. When we are out for walks Olive gets so focused on squirrels that she is oblivious to everything else. My commands, as well as oncoming cars (!) are completely tuned out while she stares at the squirrel she is engrossed with at the moment. I was looking forward to taking Olive to that class on Wednesday mornings and expected her to do well.

Unfortunately, last night I got an email notice that the class has been canceled. I called this morning about another class called "Out and About with your Dog" that was scheduled for early Wednesday afternoons, and was told that was canceled as well.

I did not want to waste this Fall as far as dog training goes. An internet search brought me to an organization in a nearby town called "Tails-U-Win" that I have heard good things about. I registered Olive for a basic "Family Dog" class on Sunday afternoons beginning October 4. So Olive and I will be going to school together.

I was especially happy to see the name of a woman named Sue Sternberg in their website. I knew Sue some years back when she was the fiddler for the New England contra dance band "Wild Asparagus". I haven't seen her in quite some time, though I did hear that she was a highly regarded dog expert and had left her career as a professional musician to pursue a career in dog training. To my knowledge, Sue is now living in upstate New York, so it is unlikely that she will be at any of the classes, but apparently "Tails-U-Win" uses some of her methods. I checked a box to receive Sue's newsletter.

So soon Olive and I will be off on a new adventure at dog training class. You can be sure that there will be a lot about it in this blog.

At Play

Olive loves to chase after her foam rubber Frisbee (I call it “saucer” when I want her to get it, as opposed to her “ball” or her “kong”). Several times I demonstrated to people how she would catch it while attached to her 26-foot long leash, although Olive has never shown any inclination to bolt. About two months ago I considered that when we went to the local dog park I would take her off leash and let her run. She generally kept close to me and was very good about coming to me when I called her. I decided to try taking her off leash in the wide grassy field behind my townhouse, keeping her leashes handy just in case. I have to confess that I was not surprised that she stayed reasonably close to my back deck, focusing on the saucer and behaving quite well. Since then I often bring her out back after our periodic walks during the day, let her loose to chase the saucer, and have had no real problems. Only once did she run off; when a rabbit ran across the field near us she took off after it. Even then she obeyed when I yelled at her to get back and never was out of my sight. One of my neighbors marvels that she is so well behaved that I can let her loose. I am not sure whether I am technically violating the association rules at my complex, but no one has complained yet. She is clearly under my control. She seems to like that she is able to run and jump in a manner that she never could when she was on the long leash. Border collies require a great deal of exercise, and I am glad to have found a way that seems to satisfy that need.

Some friends brought Olive a “kong” toy, a somewhat conic hollow rubber toy that I can put food in through a hole at one end, about an inch in diameter. It’s a challenge to the dog to figure out how to get the food out. Olive seems to love the challenge, and is learning how to shake the food out. Most mornings she delays eating her breakfast, though she usually eats it eventually. I find that putting a small amount of her dry dogfood in there and sitting with her while she tackles the challenge of getting the food out stimulates her appetite. She will empty the toy, then look at me to see if I will refill it, which I sometimes do. After the second fill, she will often go over to her dish and eat what is left there. This seems to have become a sort of morning ritual for us. I had heard of kong toys, but it took someone buying Olive one to really get her started on it and make me see just what a hit it is with her.

Another morning ritual is brushing her with a soft wire brush. She loves being groomed like that and will lay still, except to shift positions as if she is saying “could you get this side?” It makes for a great bonding time. We do it nearly every day.

It amazes me how many people around my complex now know Olive. Some will even come out while we are walking by to play with her. Most have no idea who I am, but they know and love Olive!