Wishing You Contentment and Connection at Christmas
All the very best from BachingDog this Christmas season!
Christmas can be a real intensifier of emotions. It seems to enhance (for better or worse) whatever the current experience is that folk are having. So, if the unrestrained delights of the season are yours for the enjoying, Yay for you! However, if Christmas comes with a few challenges, then my wish for you this Christmas time is that you will have on hand (or will be able to muster up) whatever it is you most need to traverse this season well:
- Patience for social gatherings of the socially awkward or the socially exhilarated or the socially oblivious; really, just patience for social gatherings, especially if you’re an introvert (all power to you my introverted friends!)
- Grace as you remember and grieve loved ones no longer with us
- The joy and delight of giving and receiving (The Joy of Socks and Jocks is a very special joy!)
- Acceptance of whatever (or whoever) it may be that might otherwise disturb your equilibrium
- People (human or animal) to share love with
- Someone to be kind to
- Someone to accept kindness from
- Hope that the future holds promise of one kind or another
- Strength and courage to persevere
And my especial hope is that somewhere in this season you will feel as contented and connected as Iota the Scruffer, Maggie the whippet, and I were feeling when this little video was taken at this time of the year, two years ago. Iota was having his nails trimmed and Maggie decided that to enhance that experience she would wrap herself around my hip and snuggle into us. How wonderful.
Thanks for following and interacting with BachingDog in 2018, I look forward to sharing more of what we get up to in 2019. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying a many-dogs-to-love Christmas. ☺
Influence and Freedom
Influence and Freedom
*If you have influence, they have freedom*
Subtitle: The hills are alive with the sound of my ridiculously happy recall voice!
One of the best reasons I know to put time and effort into having influence over your dog’s behaviour is that your ability to influence them expands the scope of their freedom. This video of The Fantastic Four plus boarders Sadie and Mushu is an example of the kind of freedom and fun dogs can have when you know they’ll listen when you need them to.
Freedom is a by-product of the safety of having influence, of having a responsive dog. A little earlier on this particular walk Squeak and Slippy spotted a mob of giant mutant rabbits (AKA ‘kangaroos’) on the neighbouring property and then a few minutes later another mob on the property we were on. Both times the dogs spotted the roos before I did and without my influence - to recall Squeak, who had shot off on a roo-chasing mission, and to remind Slip not to join her even though he was busting to do so – the two of them would’ve been over the hills and far away chasing the roos who knows where, risking all manner of injury. As it was, we all enjoyed a safe walk with lots of freedom to run, sniff and play. So hooray for influence!
You might notice that in the video Mushu the Frenchie, boarding with us for the second time, is dragging a long line. Because I don’t have as much influence over Mushu as I do the other dogs (I’ve only known him for a grand total of four weeks, spread out over two boarding visits) that long line is there as a safety net. I kept a hold on that line until the roos had cleared off out of sight and I’d scoped the terrain enough to have a fair idea where any further enticements/excitement might come from. Once I was reassured that he wasn’t likely to encounter anything he’d find irresistible, and he’d settled in to the group’s groove, I was able to let the long line drag and watch Mushu sniffing about and charging around.
Happy dogs and
