10/30/2023
This morning we had a lovely walk along the beach. Juno was off lead, minding her own business, having some sniffies, playing with me, exploring. We passed a few regulars and said hello. Then I clipped on her lead and we headed home along the road.
Three things happened on that journey home:
1. We passed a lady we have seen a few times. Her frustrated dog was on a retractable lead. She locked the lead as we walked by them. Juno, on a drooping loose leash, politely walked by on my outside. The lady turned around and said, "your dog is so GOOD! I should give you my dog to train for a few days!"
2. We passed by a car where Juno found a cat hiding. She looked at him, and then turned back to me. That's a skill she has learned, and a hard one for her. I rewarded her for her fabulous choice. A man walking by said, "lucky dog getting treats!"
3. We ran into our elderly neighbour. She has a small dog who is pretty excited to see Juno when we pass. She came in close to tell me about some suspicious activity in the carpark. Juno stood calmly, engaged with me, while her dog whined and wiggled and pulled. As she walked away she pointed at Juno and said, "she's so well behaved!"
Look, Juno isn't "well behaved" or "obedient" and she is not any better than the dog on the retractable lead. Her skills are better! The behaviours she has learned that are socially acceptable are reinforced (meaning, I use something she values to maintain and strengthen those behaviours), and I set her up to succeed by never forcing her into uncomfortable situations and giving her plenty of information about what it is I expect her to do. But she wasn't born this way. This isn't something that she just does. And it didn't happen overnight! It something she has learned and something that involves all of these "behind the scenes" activities.
I make sure she gets out a lot to see the world (for us this is 2+ hours a day but everyone is different), experience all the things, and thus, learn to navigate them in socially appropriate ways. She gets a good balance of exercise and sleep because none of us learn well if we are brimming with excitement and finally get a few minutes to do something fun, nor do we learn well if we are tired!
The rules of our society are very humancentric. They are arbitrary to our dogs and we have to give them meaning if we expect certain behaviour! By teaching Juno some simple skills that she demonstrated today, she knows exactly what to do and can successfully and safely navigate these social situations. But that takes effort, consistency, mindfulness, and heaps of practice in a methodical and systematic way to ensure our communication is clear, easy, and enjoyable.
*PS, this is my attempt at drawing an iceberg. 😆
