Didn’t I already tell you that?
Does the following statement sound familiar: “I have specifically told him not to do that, but yet he still does it. It drives me crazy.” Or this one: “I know we’ve talked about that. And she said she understood. Yet just this morning, I witnessed her doing the same thing without making the changes […]
The proverbial backbone: having the courage to speak and listen openly to others
Tomorrow morning Grace and I are leaving at the crack of dawn (she doesn’t know this yet) and drive two hours west. We’re going to meet a dog chiropractor and have her evaluate Grace. Mind you, I’m not even sure what, if anything is wrong with Grace. I know most people would (and will) think […]
Man’s Best Friend makes a great employee, too
Hauling around a heavy load over miles of tough terrain in sub-zero temperatures doesn’t sound like it would be much fun. But I found out just how fun it can be – if you’re an Alaskan sled dog. While on vacation the past two weeks, my husband and I toured through parts of Alaska. The […]
Hurricane Irene and the Temperament Test
Irene is fast approaching. By the time a hurricane reaches New England, it usually doesn’t amount to much. But forecasters are calling this one historic. Taking into account the size of this storm, coupled with her wind speed, she’s BIG. My husband and I have been planning an upcoming vacation and we had lined up […]
Nose-to-nose with a snapping turtle? What would you do?
I’ve never seen a baby snapping turtle before this past weekend. But I can thank Grace for the experience. My husband and I were enjoying a quiet afternoon by the small river that runs behind our property (some people call it a creek, I refer to it as a river as it technically is, but […]
Who are you? (with a fresh view)
In my last post, I talked about the importance of understanding a person by asking the question: “Who are you?” A fellow blogger, Sara, offered this comment, “I would be interested to hear how Grace and you define the answer.” It was a simple statement, but really sunk in for me. Sara had held me […]
Who are you?
I’m still reviewing and processing all the information I learned at Suzanne Clothier’s recent workshop on fearful dogs. The lessons most certainly apply to all dogs – and people. She suggests that there are elemental questions that we should ask a dog when interacting with her. The first of those questions is: “Who are you?” […]
Two steps forward, one step backward
This past weekend, I continued my experiment with Grace in the car. You may recall in a recent postI talked about my success in getting her to decide to lay quietly in her bed—a decision she made on her own versus me luring or commanding her to do so. The next time we did this […]
Making progress is the important thing when you’re looking for changes
The question often comes up: “Is it possible for someone to change?” I believe it’s possible. However, it’s difficult and the circumstances surrounding it have a major impact on the success of the endeavor. First, we need to establish a realistic timeframe; another aspect is to focus on small improvements, without expecting for transformations to […]
Establishing rules works in tandem with freedom of choice
We all need rules. This doesn’t hinder our ability to be creative or have decision-making abilities. I think these are often confused. In the last post, I described how Suzanne Clothiercreates interactions between a dog and a human where dogs have a level of decision-making. When a dog can figure out a situation on their […]
