Hollywood Parents by Kristina Adams

Author:Kristina Adams [Adams, Kristina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kristina Adams

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A couple of days later, a dog trainer came to visit. He’d been instructed that I knew nothing about dog training but I wanted to know everything, so I was a willing student.

He entered wearing a thick, tartan scarf and a pea coat. He looked like he belonged on an English farm or something. “Hi, I’m Graeme. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Gardener,” he said in an English accent as he held out his hand for me to shake.

I shook it. “Please, call me Tate,” I said, stepping aside to let him in. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Water would be great, thanks,” he said.

“Water it is,” I said.

We went into the kitchen, where I poured us both a glass of water. “Whereabouts in England are you from?” I asked.

“Wiltshire, just round the corner from Stonehenge.”

“Wow. I’ve only ever been to London and Manchester before,” I said.

“Ah, they’re not England. You need to get away from the cities to get a taste of real English life. Wiltshire is typical English countryside. It’s gorgeous.” He took his phone from his pocket and showed me his background. It was a picture of Stonehenge. Red sunlight in the background gave the giant rocks an eerie, ethereal glow.

“That’s so pretty,” I said.

“Yep,” he said.

Moxie waddled into the room then stared up at us. She refused to sit on the tiled floor, but she was more than happy to sit on carpet. I didn’t get it. “Why won’t she sit on the floor?” I asked him.

“She may just not like how it feels on her bum,” he said. “How does it feel when you walk around barefoot on this floor?”

“Cold, I guess. Compared to the carpets, I mean.”

“She probably feels the same. She might change her mind as she gets older and her fur grows or she wants the cold floor to cool off on. It might also be that she doesn’t like how slippery it is. Do you have any mats you could put down?”

“No, but I could get some. Do you think it’ll help?”

“It might just make her feel a bit steadier on the floor while she’s still a baby,” he said.

I took my phone from my pocket and made a note to look into some rugs that would match the kitchen. “Anything else?”

“The most important thing you need to know about dog training is that it’s more about training the owner than the dog. It isn’t like talking to a child. For instance, if we reassure a dog in the same way that we reassure a child, we’re telling them that there’s something to be afraid of.”

I stared at him, wide-eyed. “So what do we do, then?”

“The opposite of what feels natural. We ignore them and act like everything is fine.”

“That sounds difficult.”

“It is at first, but it leads to happier, more confident dogs later. And I’m assuming that’s what you want?”

I looked down at Moxie, who was about to pee on the kitchen floor, right behind Graeme. “No no no!” I said, running for her.

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