She's not normal, but it's nice to pretend.
The end of last month brought us two events to celebrate the not-crazy. First, we did a bully breed education class for a group of kids at the local animal shelter. Rubi was, above all, herself. This in itself is pretty amazing. She wasn't the raging, screaming, uncontrollable banshee we've all come to know - and let's face it - dread and hate. She was energetic and happy and let each of the kids "clicker train" her through a trick. The program was an hour long, and she had to chill in her crate while Maus did a nosework demo. (Which, as a side note, he rocked. In a room full of kids. May the wonders never cease.)
Let's just take a moment to bask in the glow of Rubi going into a building full of noisey, strange dogs and her not going bat-apeshit crazy. Everything else was just icing.
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| Photo evidence by Seth. |
Rubi also came back to Growl Class for the last day because of why not? Every once in a while, someone will tell me that they don't take/aren't going to take to class with the implication of why would they? They've trained dogs before, and they know all that stuff already. This always makes me a little sad. I might not have learned any new training techniques in this class, but I will never underestimate the value of having another set of educated eyes watching you and your dog train. Each class I take, I learn more about my dogs, and this helps me to refine my techniques and increase my skills. I don't know all this stuff already.
To be honest, I hope there's always more to learn.
Take this picture I took of Rubi after class on our last day of Growl Class:
Now, there are a lot of pictures of Rubi on her mat in this blog. And there are a lot of pictures of Rubi looking happy at the camera. But this one is special. I have put away my bait bag. There is no ball or toy in my hand. This is Rubi looking at me - just me. She is that excited to play and work and just be together. This picture of mediocre quality means more to me, I think, than any other picture I have ever taken of her. It is a picture of the relationship we have created between the two of us.
Isn't it incredible? I mean . . . wow. Who knew we had that?
Love your blog -- and Rubi and Piper Ann and, of course, Mr. Masculine (Jai). Your discovery that Jai is afraid of new things/people and that it matters whether they approach him or vice versa struck a chord with me. That's how my Lucinda is; it's the unexpectedness of things, the change in the structure that's scary -- not necessarily who or what. Anyway, Rubi is a Doll. Y'all rock on!!
ReplyDeleteHaving a reactive dog go through a class like that with a bunch of kids in the room and strange dogs? Umm hello, your girl is amazing! Congrats to you both, I know you put a lot of work into training. Like a lot a lot. I'm not a great dog trainer by any means, but my best "quality" is I have constatnly been open to learning which is half the battle for many people.
ReplyDeleteYES YES YES! Happy to play and work together!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes: "I might not have learned any new training techniques in this class, but I will never underestimate the value of having another set of educated eyes watching you and your dog train. Each class I take, I learn more about my dogs, and this helps me to refine my techniques and increase my skills. I don't know all this stuff already.
To be honest, I hope there's always more to learn."
I always pick up at least one new thing each class - even if it's seeing how someone else's dog reacts to something, I am always filling my eyes and mind with new knowledge. Dogs are amazing gateways to new ways of thinking!