Alright: Keep Doing What You’re Doing

The woman yelled out “Leave it!” when her Siberian Husky got too persistent in his sniffing of a small, slightly overweight Beagle. She yelled a few more times, giving that tone people do when they try to pretend this is the very first time their dog has acted this way, a small, rehearsed element of surprise in her voice.

The dog, a very large, very trim, grey and white male wore a pronged collar as did his twin, a slightly calmer character, both unneutered. I don’t mean to say that every male dog out to be neutered, although it would probably keep them from throwing their weight around at the dog park.

After a few more shouts to leave the panicked Beagle alone, the woman grabbed her dog by the pronged collar and pulled him along, then set him off as if spinning a top. He quickly circled back to the Beagle. Later as we came around our last loop of the park, the big sniffing dog had been leashed, the “Leave It!” command apparently unheeded. We didn’t see the Beagle.

Both our dogs steer clear of too much friendliness. Swirl lives in his own regal bubble and only rarely engages in meeting other dogs. He sashays down the trail, lifting his paws in his own rhythm, tail up and wagging. He is happy if insular.

Tempest is both more exuberant and more wary. She runs happy but stops hard when a new dog approaches. She waits for us to tell her what’s next. Usually we say, “It’s alright,” which means keep moving, keep doing what you’re doing. Later, maybe when she’s way ahead and she turns to wait for us, we say, “Good! You’re a good girl to wait!” And rarely, very rarely, we say one sharp “No!” if she’s headed for trouble. These were the three commands we were told would work best for her, that she had learned as a sled dog and a team leader in Alaska.

It occurs to me watching how Tempest is adjusting to her new life here in Wisconsin with just these three commands, that she has been trained to respond to affirmations, rather than scolding. I think about how rare that is and how smart. That knowing what to do is having someone notice when you’re doing the right thing, when you’re doing well and being happy, more than being told to “Leave It” and being yanked along by a pronged collar.

This was a good lesson for me, one that is bigger than dogs. I liked learning this, even at this late stage, if you know what I mean.