It’s been quite a while since our last update! I’ve been really crazy busy — doing clicker seminars, costume workshops, manuscript editing, photoshoots, all kinds of stuff. I’ve been sleeping very little and living on caffeine — most unusual and edgy for me! — and while I often think of blog posts, by the time I get to a keyboard, I just check email and then collapse. Sorry; I’ve been inactive on most lists, too.
But Laev’s been doing pretty well. We’re still recovering in obedience; she’s tolerating our small gunshots but has a much lower threshold on our club field still. That will continue to be our project and our nemesis for the fall trial.
Today I went to club training and took a turn walking another member’s dog about. This dog isn’t always comfortable with other people, and so his handler has asked others to walk him around and do simple obedience, so we were just doing as asked. The walker before me had to fuss a bit with him as he was scraping at the muzzle he wore, and we made a few jokes about the dog potentially removing the muzzle. No big deal. Then it was my turn, and as I took the dog he scraped at the muzzle again. “Look, he knows a pushover when he sees one! Amazing how they can instantly recognize who means business and who’s a softie.”
Now, this was the exact same behavior which had just occurred with the other walker; there was no reason to think the dog was doing anything for a different reason now. There was a time when this would have really irritated me, being labeled unjustly. But today, I just mentally noted that it was in fact the exact same behavior and went on walking, slightly surprised to realize that it didn’t really bother me.
So that’s where I am. I am still training Laev (though not as much as I need to be doing!) and I am still blogging, or at least thinking of blogging, but very slowly while I divide my time among far too many demands. And I am not a pushover; I am merely non-reactive. There is a very real difference (as some can tell you!). Apparently my non-reactivity is expanding slowly. Interesting.
I hope we will have time to complete our gunshot training before the fall trial. We’ll see.
I would not call you a pushover, and nonreactive is definitely a worthy place to be. Glad that stuff isn't getting under your skin as much!