For me, the most fascinating aspect of being involved in the dog world is the daily miracle of communication. Think about it. When a person from another country comes into our world and asks for directions, we speak s-l-o-w-l-y and clearly, often times throwing in hand gestures. When they don’t understand, we repeat ourselves and when they still don’t understand, we make this odd leap of logic that they must be deaf, so we start shouting at them. Transfer that illogical way of communication to the family pet, who is trying to live in a foreign country, our homes. Our dog is not another human, which should be relatively easy to communicate with, but another species.
It’s a miracle the communication happens. I think it’s because dogs are better at understanding us, than we are of them.
Thank goodness for books like “The Well Adjusted Dog,” by Dr. Nicholas Dodman. I recently heard him speak at a North Bay event and he had the audience in stitches detailing case histories as a veterinary behaviorist at Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. He told the story of a Jack Russell Terrier who guarded his owner’s bed. Dr. Dodman suggested the owner divert the JRT from the bed by ringing the doorbell, which for JRT owners know, is a sure way to get a little fireball off the bed. The owner would then, shut the door to the bedroom to prevent the rehearsal of bed guarding. One night, the owner was on the bed and the JRT began a frantic barking at the front door, which of course, brought the owner out of the bedroom to the front door when the JRT quickly then took up residence on the bed. Yep, you guessed. There wasn’t anyone at the front door.
Dr. Dodman details this story to encourage dog owners to respect the intelligence of their pet and figure out what they need to be well adjusted. Dr. Dodman estimates that the vast majority of our backyard pets are as under-exercised as their human companions. He goes after commercial pet food manufacturers and is one of the few national voices willing to speak out against the “dominance” training on national television shows on dogs.
Be a good dog owner or become a well adjusted dog owner, so your dog can be too.
