Walks with Lulu used to be tedious in the beginning. I had no idea why she was tugging on the leash. Her insecurities would flare up around other dogs and she would launch into a growling fit if she happened to sniff out a dog she did not get along with.
Often I would return from our walks completely distraught and feeling like I was not up for the job of being Lulu’s parent. She exhausted me.
It took us a couple of months to start understanding each other. And ever since we have not stopped building trust with Lulu and paying attention to her cues.
Did you know, that a dog yawns when it is uncomfortable with what’s going on around it?
The greatest misconception about dog training is that it is training for the dog; it is for the humans 🙂
It is we as humans who are used to verbal cues and verbal communication who need to train ourselves to pick up small cues like yawning, looking away, etc. We as pet parents owe it to our babies to make an effort to understand them even when we think they are telling us nothing. It improves our lives and lets the dogs be the best versions of themselves.
Wouldn’t it be nice if they did not have to bark to get your attention every time something was wrong? If they felt confident that the human can perceive their needs, they wouldn’t have to resort to extreme forms of self-expression.
Lulu is a dog with several insecurities. She is terrified of mini vans. So, every time a mini van comes into the colony, we take her close to the van, stop, reassure her that nothing bad is going to happen to her, and praise her for being a brave girl. Over the last two years Lulu has learnt to trust us. She knows that even if she is confronted with an object that terrifies her, we will take charge of the situation.
It is important that we are consistent in our communication. And that means, good behaviour is rewarded with treats and praise and bad behaviour is corrected right when it occurs, every single time.
She gets time-outs if she misbehaves. There is no mollycoddling this furbaby.
Further, we always respond to her when she gets our attention. When she paws us because she is bored, we interact with her if we can. When she trembles out of anxiety when gas cylinders are being rolled down the building corridor, we take notice that she is not feeling comfortable and reassure her. On walks, she knows that she can go everywhere she wants, but only if she is not tugging on the leash.
We now know if Lulu is calling us because she is bored or because she has a stomach upset.
It was not until today that our communication was tested.
A dog in the colony had been extremely unwell for the last couple of months. Lulu had no love lost for Pepper. She would grunt and growl at Pepper on our walks. Pepper was failing to show up for his meals, but he would later be found chomping on a pigeon or parrot. So on Monday night when we could not find him after searching around the colony we assumed he was resting somewhere after hunting down another bird.
This morning when we went down for Lulu’s walk, she kept tugging on the leash going towards a stairwell that leads to a basement. This is unusual for Lulu. The basement is not a place she approaches otherwise. It was my guess that Pepper had settled at the bottom of the stairwell. I did not want to go down there with Lulu because she does not get along with him.
On our way back Lulu once again wanted to approach the basement. On both the occasions, Lulu did not growl while approaching the staircase. R went down the stairs looking for Pepper. Unfortunately, Pepper had chosen the quite, cool, dark basement to breathe his last.
On what was otherwise a very solemn day for us, I have been reflecting on the two-way communication channel that we have built with Lulu, without which we would not have found Pepper this morning.
I find this tale remarkably heart-warming despite the demise at the end. I am sorry for Pepper but at the same time I am warmed by Lulu’s gesture. Of course your post is more than just this but somehow this sticks to my mind the most. One would attach the word humanity to something like this – clearly one needs a better word.
Indeed, I think animals are just pure in their intentions.