FINDING YOUR CALM

As I stumble along my own personal journey, I have envisioned this unbelievable dog being in my life someday. A dog that could go with the flow, wait for me in almost any situation and be more than happy to do so, demonstrate a particular skill if I so needed, be friendly and relaxed around other dogs and humans and most of all be my best friend. Miss Mokey came into our lives about a year ago. She is about 3 years old, and definitely smart like a fox. 🦊 She came to us when she was around 2 years old from her then foster human after she bit the foster human’s, parent’s dog, and they couldn’t “control” her anymore. She loves barking and lunging at birds, squirrels, ducks, or anything moving, and she especially loved being crazy while passing other dogs. Fast forward a little over a year, and we have not put in some crazy amount of “advanced obedience” with Mokey yet. Not that we don’t want to, love to, or plan on it in the future. What Mokey is learning first is trust. 🧡 Trust in her humans that we are paying attention and that we can and will show her calmer ways of existing in our human world. Let’s be very blunt here…. We as humans tie our dogs to a string (the leash), and just expect our dogs to understand why we do it, and that it’s for their safety and best interest. Think if someone had you tied to a rope, how much convincing would it take to convince you to stay together and not let the leash get tight…………… ……. you could definitely be forced to do so, and eventually, give in because there is no point in fighting….. …… or someone could slowly earn your trust by paying attention to what you need at the moment, with patience and guidance……. sound familiar…… ……. human kids need the same patience and trust-building guidance. Now…… most humans don’t have their kids tied to ropes, but holding hands is a similar process. So, in the last year, we have worked on just your basic calmness level with Mokey. We take structured walks every day, we do a little place command every day, we practice our calm kennel skills every day, we practice calm play and sometimes excited play with our dog crew, and we practice being calm in the yard for no particular reason. At the beginning of the year, I started bringing Mokey to my group dog classes. While I teach, Mokey waits for me and relaxes. When we started this process, Mokey would sit at attention for hours on end, never once laying her head down for even a second, let alone to take a rest. As the weeks and now months have gone by, Mokey slowly started taking advantage of her solo time and started resting her head. These days, Mokey can get into such a relaxed state of mind, she can even fall asleep, which is a HUGE deal. 😴 Last night we had our weekly pack walk, and I was able to hand Mokey off to 4 different community members, while I worked with their dogs to show them some finer tuned leash skills. Instead of whining or constantly trying to get back to me, she went with the flow and became a teacher in the moment for those community members who needed it. They were able to practice the skills with a dog that wasn’t dragging them down the street, as well as allowing me to help another human and dog team. So, I guess the point of this long story, is to show how far a dog with bigger issues can turn it around without much of any formal obedience, but by building a strong trust first. The universe works in amazing ways. Knowing I still have things to work on as I move forward, and having a dog that will challenge me along the way, makes me even more excited to see what we can accomplish. 🧡 #yougetthedogyouneednotthedogyouwant