10 Seconds of Magic…by Lisa Harmon July 8, 2008

Tummy time for Kenai, 27 wks old (ignore the red eye, darn flash)

We had a bit of a watershed event, Kenai and I, Monday morning. We had gone to the vet for some blood tests, and he had walked in and behaved like the calm and gentle fellow he is. He pulled some, to get attention from a lady who was talking about him with me. No big deal, since he loosened his leash when I said “no pull”.

Kenai is good at the vet, though he doesn’t like it. He holds still. Usually. But when the vet kneeled down, Kenai moved back, refusing the sit he was asked to do. Problem was, I had his collar and was starting to kneel too.

He pulled me down. Couldn’t help the yelp, since I landed hard. I didn’t get up right away, either, just rolled to the other rump to catch my breath a bit. The poor vet, he’s such a kindly man… he just asked if I wanted to get up yet, and let them know when I was ready, they’d help.

Kenai’s reaction was completely unexpected: he stopped his nervous retreat, and came over to me, smelling the left arm and hip I had landed on. Some people say dogs don’t have souls, but they didn’t see Kenai’s eyes as he looked in mine. He was concerned, questioning, and there was no doubt that the wheels were turning in that giant puppy brain. I just patted his neck and told him I was okay. Gave him a poochy smooch too.

I could almost see the light switch turn on in his head. He decided he knew just what to do about the situation. He came around the vet and his tech, to my right side instead of the standard left heel side which I had fallen on. He just walked all the way around, put his head under my arm, and waited.

I haven’t put my hand on his withers while getting up in probably 2 months, and didn’t make any big deal of it then. Kenai’s way too young to teach bracing or weight bearing tasks, and I’ve never added any of my weight. I had just wanted him to begin getting used to my hand there, way back when. We’ve not done it in a long time, because we had more basic things to work on lately.

The magic of these 8 or 10 seconds was that I didn’t ask him to do it, he just did it. Somehow, on his own, he figured out that he was supposed to do this chain of behaviors when I was on the ground and needed help. And silly me was bemoaning his independent, think for himself nature!! DUUUUHHHH!

THAT’S why I picked a Great Dane, despite all the pressure I was put under to choose another breed: Danes think. Some breed proponents say their breed is smarter than that breed, et cetera and et cetera. Yeah, labs retrieve, goldens too, herding dogs are smart and agile. Yeah. But Danes think, with or without training, with or without relying on breed habits.

A study back in the 70’s tested a hundred ordinary companion Great Danes and found they averaged the problem solving ability and vocabulary potential of a 7 year old human child. That was the average. Shabah and his 200 word vocabulary would have blown their scale to bits. My unassuming, dignified puppy just did, too, at all of 6 months old.

I also think big little Kenai understood for the first time that he really could hurt me, his big tough momma who still wins the tug of war games. He was ridiculously careful about his movements after that, watching my body very closely. Even with a playful puppy in the lobby after his blood was drawn, the leash hung and he didn’t step if I didn’t.   

All day long he sniffed that left elbow and hip. Oh, he did his puppy play and all, but he kept track of my left side knots, too. He would lift a foot to swat during tuggie times, then remember the “no feet” rule and put it back down. Something just clicked for him Monday morning. And I just about heard the click, too.

Now tonight is puppy school, and Kenai’s a puppy, so it’s a different day than yesterday. A room full of high energy pups and nervous little dogs awaits us. I can’t go expecting him to be as totally concerned with me as he was yesterday. Neither puppies nor humans consistently learn a lesson and never backslide again. Kenai will give me the behavior Kenai is able to at that moment, and my job is to accept it and shape it.

Tonight is also the sit/stay competition the instructor called and told me about last night. We haven’t worked on sit stays in a long time, with his sore hind legs, and my being more concerned about fluid heeling. We’ll have a few reminders today, and see if he can pull that trick up out of the archives for tonight.

I find myself having to get rid of the urge to make Kenai “out-do” everyone else. Human nature is strange, isn’t it? That ‘my dog is better than your dog’ thing is stupid, but most of us seem to fall into it in some way or another. So class tonight is for fun and no snobby snots! Just some fun. It’s another outing like the hardware store or the Wal-Mart garden center, only louder and longer. With more fur around.