The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs

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I am such a fan girl right now! I am absolutely geeking out that one of my ideas made it into a blog! Awesome sauce! And my recently adopted foster failure Crookytail… I don’t know for sure, because we’ve only been together for about a week, but I strongly suspect he’d fit into the category of dogs who approach it as an obedience exercise and are obviously less interested in the therapy patient than his handler. That’s why I adopted him — because he showed such clear signs of being the kind of dog who bonds very closely to his person and easily ignores outside stimuli while “on the job”— and that’s GREAT for freestyle and obedience, but maybe not so much for therapy work.

I’ve been continuing to enjoy reading about people’s experiences in AAT and very inspired to hear about all the dog/person teams that have made such a difference in people’s lives and had their own lives enriched by the experience. I’m more motivated than ever to look into it for Sandy. A long-time friend and fellow guide dog user came to visit me. She of course brought along her sweet, happy golden retriever, Phoenix. She was telling me a story about how there was a person who Phoenix didn’t exactly get along with, and to demonstrate her dislike of this person, she simply wouldn’t walk with them to get some water.

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My dog is a great Therapy dog, but after 2 years, he finally made me see that he really doesn’t like going into large institutional type buildings. He is great with people, but doesn’t care to be startled. (doesn’t have a big reaction, freezes and trembles, poor guy) So, I am searching for a better environment for him. Lesson learned? Get out of MY ego, and do what is right by my loving, gentle, Jindo (yes, a Jindo!) Now, the desire for another guide dog is transforming into need. We’re required to be on campus again two days a week, and I realized, just this past week, that I haven’t been on campus without a dog in 21 years. I confess, it’s scary. I can travel independently just fine, but do I like it? No! Neither Skip or I can take any credit for this pen. The sheep are “school” sheep, used to train dogs, and are happy to go into the pen. Of course to be fair Falkor has trained me pretty well, too. I’m bored pay attention to me is expressed by grabbing books off the shelf and threatening to chew them up. Even though I know he’s doing it to get a reaction I keep reacting. Sigh. I will be alright. It will get figured out. I am surrounded by a devoted husband, dear friends, tons of doctors and holistic practioners. Some things don’t help, others do. Some days are better than others. I am better than I was in January and February. I am probably going to have to make some permanent changes in my life, a tad of a challenge for a woman who lives on a hilly farm, has sheep and working dogs, and uh, has ADHD besides. I’m not going to go into any more details, because that’s just not what this village is about. This is not the place to talk about disease, medicine, and treatments. It IS the place for me to honor so many others, including those who will read this post, who are worse off than I am. It IS the place to savor how important our dogs and our friends are.

This hardly becomes a problem when cuddling on the couch, but it can be if you REALLY don’t want your dog to beg at the table, or bark to get out of the crate. It’s simple to handle, because it’s all on us, and we have total control of our own behavior, right? Uh, right? And. Yet. There are plenty of pitfalls to using R+ successfully, which was my topic at a speech I recently gave to the Madison Rotary Club. I’ll link to the speech at the end, but here’s a summary of the talk’s primary points: And just to share, Finna who came to us barking, growling and lunging at everyone she saw on a walk no matter how far away they were today saw people shoveling their driveway and immediately turned to me for her treat. No barking, lunging, pulling or growling. See people=get treats. It’s a great first step in rehabilitating this unsocialized tightly wound, fearful dog. In fact, as I write this, my regret lessens a little–there were so many people she met on our walks, little old ladies, reclusive old men, who she really connected with (and made them feel as if THEY were special!). I still miss her terribly, two years after she died. My current dog, a Golden/BC mix, is definitely a number Four. He’ll never be a therapy dog; he’s much too nervous around new people. But he adores me, and anyone else who is home with him, as if he’s learned to bond with the one who’s there. (Poor pup was neglected by a previous owner who was dying of cancer.) I am firmly in the ‘born’ camp, altho’ much training is needed. Only 1 of my dogs has been suitable, my first, who was adopted from Keeshond Rescue at age 3. He was physically calm, & loved people; would work a room like a politician. I took him to work with me after he passed his TDI (I am a CNA in a healthcare facility) after I taught him to alert to alarms & monitors that the night staff might not hear if we were working elsewhere. He taught himself to alert to wandering residents, & prevented many falls. He also would seek out & sit with residents who couldn’t sleep. What I found most moving was another self-appointed task—he would insist on sitting with the families of dying residents.Here’s my post from last year on my blog when I decided to move on after 19 years from the therapy dog world. http://laurelandherdogs.blogspot.com/2010/12/therapy-dogs.html I’m fine now too. I still miss Luke, I miss him a lot. A part of me died with Luke, as always happens when someone we love deeply dies. But a part of Luke will always live on in me, and my heart doesn’t hurt the way it did before. There are days when I still tear up over Luke, occasional days in which I give in to a good cry. But those days are lessening, and it feels in my heart that Luke and I have both moved on. Thank you, Trisha, your writing is so beautiful and makes me cry, with grief and joy and the fullness of life.

I give both dogs treats, affection, and attention, and I make a conscious effort to keep it fair and even between them, but I also make a conscious effort not to reward Sandy when she is being pushy. Over the last nine months or so, their interactions have mellowed out-Sandy is less forward, Otis is more apt to stand his ground and take an equal place in the doorway, and most happily, they’ve never gotten into any sort of competitive confrontation with one another.

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I agree that Therapy dogs are both born and made. You can train and train a dog that just isn’t suited. Perhaps they can do all the obedience skills required, but are too nervous, too excited, or just don’t like it. And, there are probably loads of dogs that would be terrific but aren’t trained so will never get the opportunity.