No not entitled “Puppy Love”
We love our puppies, I don’t think our puppies love us…
Not in the way we think out puppies love us, that is our projection…
Often, I believe, that is the beginning of where we get things wrong when bringing up puppies… probably kids as well...
Been reading… always reading…
I think Melissa Holbrook Pierson gets things right, she usually does.
She does her research…
Her book is titled, “The Secret History of Kindness: Learning From How Dogs Learn”
She is an eclectic writer, started reading her books on motorcycling…
What could be better that a woman who likes to ride!
Mellissa has a great voice, very revealing of her failings, and successes…
My wife was a motorcyclist. That was before I met her…
Both my wife and I had Labrador Retrievers in our past lives, BWGT…
Before we got together…
We are both dog people…
We are also kid people…
My wife is a people person, she even likes adults… she is an extrovert…
I prefer dogs and kids…
I enjoy the company of adults, just for shorter periods of time… I am an introvert…
Zev arrived into our lives about 8 week after being born on Halloween 2020
My wife and I have been together for 16 years.
Her 2 kids were grown and out of the house, and I had one kid out on his own when we started living together.
My last child was about 16 when we got together, and he was only with us a couple of days each week, and had a car, so was free to come and go. An easy kid, did his homework, never got into any trouble, that I got to find out about anyway…
We always talked about how freeing it was to be without dependent small kids and dogs…
We did think we would eventually bring dog presence back into our lives…
Many conversations about the meaning of dogs in people’s lives…
We agreed on trying to get a dog that would be easier to train, not one that would be a fixer upper…
There are many that would fault us on that…
There are some vet practices that seem to discriminate against people that get a purebred puppy… apparently, only rescues allowed…
We love labs, but wanted a breed that would be a bit calmer, and not such a food machine, less likely to eat half a giant pumpkin, $200 in cash, toilet paper (even more true stories, untold)…
We are still active, wanted a dog that could hike, maybe run along biking…
Our friend had a lovely Labradoodle, that probably started the ball rolling…
I had a patient who is a veterinarian, and I asked her about Labradoodles, she said, it is hard to know what you might get, they can have the problems of both breeds, why not get a Standard Poodle.
My wife took to her research… Came up with a few breeders that breed for the stockier, original hunting dog type, Standard Poodle.
She is a small breeder, only 2 litters per year…
My wife got on the list… We originally thought next Spring, 2021, but the litter was large, and we got in line for this Fall, 2020.
We made up lists of possible names…
We made pros and cons of each pup, weight, color, gender…
We bought a big crate, toys, food, treats, dog bed…
Then drove 5.5 hours to Nebraska to pick up the little creature…
I had some underlying resistance…
Despite being 67, I am not retired, I work full-time, busy weeks in clinic, and really like my free time…
My wife said she would carry the majority of the work caring for the pup, and she has lived up to that promise.
However, a puppy is part of a household, changes the whole energy of the house, a lot, almost as much as having a new baby…
Yet, we can’t help but fall in love with these young creatures…
And, if we wish a well-behaved dog, we have to start training as puppies…
Luckily, Melissa’s book came into our lives before Zev.
The book well outlines the history of behavioral training…
Highlights BF Skinners work, and, most importantly, the advantages of Karen Pryor’s clicker training.
Melissa’s book is compelling, with a simple overall message:
Reward good behavior, IGNORE bad behavior!!!
We don’t always use the clicker.
We use lots of treats.
The message is simple, carrying it out is more difficult.
Humans like to punish.
I won’t go into the details, read Melissa’s book…
However, this does not only relate to training animals, this relates to bringing up children, to how we treat prisoners…
The human obsession with punishment needs to change…
This is how we can change our society for the better…
Heretic!
I love being a Heretic…
Can’t write as much these days, have a puppy that keeps me busy…
Oh, to add to being a heretic, as a gun lover, our dog is actually named after a favorite G19 from Zev Industries…
We tell most people Zev means Wolf in Hebrew…
We like that too…
Namaste
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