Now we're talking

We can be transfixed by those puppy eyes contantly looking at us and know that our dogs are paying attention, but getting minded by an excited dog is a whole different deal.
Such big ears and the dog can't listen to us in favor of a gleeful salute to the dogs passing by across the sidewalk? No need to feel disrespected, it's just a matter of learning how to translate. You know... Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, and Dogs are from Pluto.

It's not the word, it's how you say it.
Practical little creatures they are, dogs will pay attention to your actions and their relation to their own behavior, more than what you actually say.
You say "No Jumping" and immediately start a pushing contest with your dog? "That is SO fun, let's keep doing it" your dog will think and follow up on printing muddy paw tracks on your cashmere jacket.
Yup, the moment we want our dogs to not do what we don't want them to do, we talk to them the most, touch them and wrestle with them to their heart's content, and we get the worst part of the deal.
What if we did to them what we do to our life partners: "If you don't know it already, I'm not about to tell you" and just walk away, leaving them to feel isolated for a minute? I say dog obedience is like having a boyfriend: if he hurts you, he does not deserve you. Give your dog some time alone the exact moment he jumps, bites, pushes, pulls you and don't get back together until there is at least a couple of seconds of peaceful behavior.
I don't mean to say that you have to board-school your dog for a simple jump or turn him in to a shelter after a single bite, I mean a better reaction to his behavior in good timing will make him understand that you mean business.

Mami was a 3 month old Chihuahua with needles for teeth and to teach her to not bite I started playing softly with her, as she got excited, like we humans do, she bit harder and I instantly yelped ouch, crossed my hands on my chest for half a minute, and looked away without walking away.
I resumed the playing and a little while later, she bit again and got another yelp and time off. At the third bite, I yelped and walked away for good.
Two hours later we played together, without a single bite and it's been five years now.

I wish you the same fun and success.

Happy communication.

Mutt beauty

Just back from Mexico, I got good memories of a dozen dogs.
Mutts everywhere.
I found mixed-breed dogs in every other street, wandering around. People say that a mutt is always an original masterpiece, but seeing them like that is a whole different story. What makes a mutt a beauty? I can be many things, the handsome ones I found had several common features, probably because those are what I focus on: they were sleek, showing the grace of their muscles in action, with thin waists and bulky, proud chests, a self assured gait and a broad smile.
I got an eyeful of them.
Though many of them must have been un-owned dogs -they were walking alone in the business section of the city-, they seemed happy, well fed and clean, and looked just as well pampered as any household pooch in America. Somehow, I find that they are respected by people, who avoid running them over on the streets and tossed food once in a while, they have no rabies or mange.
Maybe that's why they smile happily: they are free to roam about and live in harmony with men, machine and beasts.
Some primitive naturalism.

The Dominant Thought

It didn't seem real that a dog could take a human for a pet.

This beautiful male Black Labrador retriever danced in front of me, taunting me to chase him down the driveway. It would be no problem, unless you summarize the odd behaviors of the day: he ate a panful of our -human- food, resisted to be leashed, jumped on anybody 6 feet around him, and gleefully joined the kids games, or rather, pushed and pulled them.

In popular terms: he was setting his dominance of the pack through the playful motions of hunting.

The dog was nearly a third of my weight but obviously fitter -waaaay fitter- so wrestling him into the backyard went instantly to the bottom of my options list; chasing him could give me my first heart attack and letting him wander around was a sure way to end up blacklisted in the city's ASPCA chapter. Then, the shine in his eyes taught me a lesson.

I saw happiness, self-assurance, adolescent cockiness, and the raw sheer of freedom in his eyes. How can somebody want to erase that? I could not.

So, I turned around, grabbed a stuffed squeaky duck -MY favorite-, and invited him to chase me, via the same dance he was offering me. Wow. The boy went bananas, going around me until I offered him his fair half of the duck and tug-o-warred with him. I counted five seconds, ended the game, and closed the path to the driveway.

With loud praises for him, I went into the house and let both of us rest in the fresh victory of nice manners.

This dog made me realize, beyond the theory I had learned, been tested, and passed, that obedience training is not a matter of the fittest but the wittiest, not of imposing but proposing, not of bullying but bonding.

The one-minute lesson served me well, after his 2-month intensive training under my care, I faced off with a giant grumpy Saint Bernard, several chihuahuas with short temper, and over stressed mutts of all sizes that needed someone to teach them a simpler way to deal with us stubborn human.

Months later, while watching Animal Planet's Groomer Has It, Artist won Best in Show after bathing and brushing the most dominant of a group of Chow Chows. He explained his successful approach as performing a service to the dog, not trying to dominate and make obey. Attaboy.

Dominant behavior exists, but it does not have to addressed a la Cesar Milan by showing who's the boss -peace to my fellow mexican. We can simply provide the dog with better reasons to do things our way.

Subtleties are not lost on dogs.