As A Dog Thinketh by Monique Anstee

Author:Monique Anstee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Touchwood Editions
Published: 2017-03-17T04:00:00+00:00

AUGUST

August 1

All dogs are created differently

What do you do when you get a dog who is so guidable, so honest, so sweet, and so willing that if she thinks she has done something wrong she is destroyed? Well, the obvious answer is to make it easier. But that is only partly right.

More importantly, we must teach those dogs that being wrong is part of life. You must dig deep and try again and again and again. There is nothing wrong with making an error, but you don’t get to give up and stop. You must continue your efforts.

These dogs need to learn to be more robust. We need to bring out their cheeky side, find ways to empower them, make them prouder, and give them self-worth. My puppy Pippa now loves numerous games that would have initially made her shrivel up and hide forever. We box, where I pretend punch her in the face. She makes killer death sounds and gently knocks my hands away. If she has a soccer ball, I will gently kick it out of her mouth and do a victory lap with it until she disarms me of my toy. Her games are acknowledged, but she is required to be brave and put in effort for her rewards. If she is too slow wrangling the ball away, she simply doesn’t get it. I will continue playing with it until she loses her mind and puts in that extra effort. She doesn’t get handed things just because she is adorable. And weak.

I am also teaching her to be persistent, to not give up. I cheer my puppy up every time she tries hard, even if it’s digging a disgusting rotten stick out of the pond. I tell her how clever she is, and clap while she parades her disgusting possession around, with her tail curled over her back. When she gives up on digging her stick out because it is too much work, I pester her, asking her where it is and pointing to the hole. My voice is a little bit frantic and urgent, which gets her back to her project. Giving up is not a solution—you must work hard for things of value, like revolting decaying sticks.

In her work, I occasionally deliberately allow her to be wrong so that I can teach her not to give up. I will help her through her issue, then bop her food reward so hard that it either pings off of part of her body (the bounce and movement will make her forget she was feeling sorry for herself), or I will fling it across the room so that she has to go and chase it. When she feels really down on herself, I will fling it against the wall, where it makes a perfect thunk sound that she cannot resist. (I have already gotten her wild with sounds, so it is the perfect way to snap her out of a moment.)

Dogs will make errors. If you are training them for sport, it is going to happen.

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