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!