Kenai watching TV, 25 wks old
We had a familiar, unwelcome visitor from Friday through Saturday afternoon: rain by the boatful. Not some dinky dinghy either. More like an aircraft carrier… So the boys haven’t had much playtime so far this weekend. I did get them each out for an outdoor romp between frog-stranglers, puddles, heat, and wash outs be hanged. But another really unwelcome visitor returned in force because of it: a left side migraine.
It’d been threatening for a few days. I’ve been easily confused, a little disoriented at times, and my neck was sore enough to make my face hurt. The heat, the lack of sleep, and a REALLY noisy 2 year old (what’s her deal this weekend?) was just too much for Tylenol to keep the monster lurking. It hit hard, and fast. I was down in 15 minutes.
For me, the left side migraines are the worst, far and away. They can become literally blinding. The vomiting is intense. I often loose sensation in my face and limbs, my speech gets slurred some. You get the idea. They’re bad. They require repeated treatments to deal with.
When the DHE (dihydroergotamine) fails, I’ve had left-side brutes break through morphine after 30 minutes. They are one of the few things that can make me cry in pain. Often a diagnosis of fibromyalgia gets you labeled a whiney woman, but I’ve walked on broken bones before. I do my damnedest not to give in to pain, but the left-side screamers are unbearable. I despise the bloody things.
So Saturday night was a total wash out indoors too. Poor Kenai didn’t get unruly at all, despite having so little exercise or even playtime with toys. He’s an awfully good, calm boy. Not a bully stick or bone left in the house, though. Awfully good, and a regular fur coated chainsaw! I’m hoping to get to a puppy store with him today, and replenish the supply of chew toys.
One good thing, because of the heavy rains, Kenai “held it” some 16 hours, and his stool was normal. Finally firm, halleluia. (does that sound like an anti-cellulite cream or something?) I truly do wonder if his bowels simply move things through too fast for the excess fluid to be extracted before it comes out. I’ll have something to ask the vet if the loose stools return.
Happily, Kenai’s outdoor recall bootcamp seems to have “taken”, and there is vastly less difficulty with him coming, inside and out. I didn’t do much with it yesterday, and really didn’t have to until near the end of my legs. It was time to go in anyway. Of course, I’ll have to maintain all our success, and keep working on it. I’m very proud of him, and really do enjoy our field play.
♣
CONFESSION: I have long had nagging discomfort with Kenai’s independent streak, and the not coming when called was a major symptom of it. Ending this long standing inclination of ignoring me is immensely encouraging. I was beginning to have questions about whether or not Kenai was going to be willing to work for me.
No doubts at all that he can lay down an impressive obedience performance, like he did for Joni the clicker trainer. She has that “dog whisperer” energy, and it lit my toffee tush boy up like a bonfire. As wonderful as it was to see, the lurking question was, would he do it for me?
I’m the one who needs him to be obedient and solid, but am often unable to summon the ideal energy. His now coming when I call him has dealt a giant blow to that uncertainty! It feels good. It feels really good.
♣
There are some trainers who want to quash all hints of autonomy in a dog, particularly one being service trained. I didn’t want to manhandle Kenai and demand he do what I said. How much better to have him want to help, and be a willing participant! I wasn’t going to watch his confidence evaporate into anxiety because his spirit was under attack.
Honestly… As firmly as I believe in, and practice, being the pack leader, we humans can seriously misapply the concept of dominance.
The danger of “dominating” a dog when it isn’t necessary can be either making a timid dog terrified, or making a confident dog insecure. An inappropriate response with BB, and he shuts down, shaking. With Kenai, he becomes anxious and defensive, unsure of why you’re carrying on so.
They won’t be entirely comfortable around you, because you seem to misunderstand their actions. It creates confusion and instability, which never leads to a balanced pack. Or good teamwork.
We don’t always understand or recognize the subtleties of a canine pack. It’s hard to think like a dog when you aren’t one! Humans want to categorize and simplify the complexities we face. We can’t really do that with complex social creatures, and manage not to make a mucky mess of things.
As for Kenai’s habit of ignore-you, there is a difference between a dog disrespecting your pack leader status and a pup that’s just not inclined to pay attention. I can count on my fingers the number of times Kenai’s actually tried to challenge my dominance!
I have long ago instilled the routine of leader status: he hasn’t got a puppy part I can’t mess with, a food bowl I can’t back him off from without a word, a favorite napping spot I can’t move him from, or a toy he won’t let easily go of.
I always advise using such things as controlling the food and play, as well as making them earn everything they want to establish leadership, before resorting to the physical corrections.
Trainers often tell you to roll the dog on its back, or pin it down. When a dog in indeed challenging you, those actions are quite effective if done calmly and followed through with determination until the dog surrenders.
When you’re not being challenged, those actions often make the behavior wilder, more aggressive, or plain old frightened. Your response has to be appropriate and measured or you’ve created instability rather than balance.
