Hey there Sadie Girl,
Are your ears burning? ‘Cause I’ve been thinking about you kid!
First of all, nose work. Kelly Dunbar of Dog Star Daily, you’ve never met her but she knows about you, facilitated a luncheon talk about nose work. Basically, you would go sniffin’ after cool scents and I’d follow behind you. Sorta like follow-the-leader and your astonishing nose is the leader! Maybe you’d like to try it? Think about it.
Did you know this?
If a skunk sprays your rose bush, you will be unable to smell the roses. If the assumption that the dog’s sense of smell is simply keener than ours is correct, certainly the odor of skunk would obliterate any other odor even more for him than it does for you. This is not true. Tests have been made with skunk odor and it has been proven that a dog trained in scent work is capable of correctly designating a particular article among a number of articles, all of which have been sprayed by a skunk. (reference)
Again today what I’m taking away from the speakers here at APDT is that I need to be intentional about seeing your world from your very unique point of view. Myrna Milani drove this message home to me over and over. You would have loved her!
Here are some of the things she said that I thought you’d especially appreciate:
- “You live in a perceptual reality that compared to mine is paranormal!” Sadie, sweetie, I am in awe of you, and I vow to honor your awesomeness as best I can. I’m not sure yet what that means except to say that I want to more appreciate your dogginess and to not assume I know what your experience is or to project my experience onto you.
- “Some people expect their dogs to be their emotional and physical protectors.” That is SO wrong! It’s MY job to protect YOU emotionally and physically. I know I failed you at times especially when you were a puppy and I was coming to grips with your fearfulness. I am so sorry. I will practice everyday to do better by you. At the very least you deserve my best effort.
- “If I am calm and confident and expect the you to do well, then you are more likely to do well.” I know there have been times I’ve held my breath when I’ve seen something that I thought would scare you, like the man in the black cape. And, guess what? You reacted by barking! Duh. There have been other times when you and I were just fine and it was only after the scary thing was out of view that I ‘remembered’ we ‘should’ have been afraid. Beginning now, I’m visualizing us walking along and feeling safe and happy.
- “Do the mirror test. Interact with the mirror same as you do with Sadie. Did the person in the mirror convery that she can deal calmly and confidently with whatever Sadie dishes out?” So, Sadie girl, I did this in my hotel room. You know what? I think I looked and sounded reassuring in an upbeat, relaxed sort of way. Finally, though, you are the judge. I need to do what works for you, not just what looks good to me. I know you’ll let me know.
Okay cookie. That’s all for now. I am, well, dog tired. APDT is hard work–but it’s all for you funky monkey.
BTW, Gigi‘s here too. She told me you and she enjoyed visiting shops and meeting people in downtown Boulder last Tuesday when I was traveling to Atlanta. I know you feel safe and happy when you’re with her. I’m so glad for that.
I love you,
Mom
Dear Boulder Dog,
I would like to thank you for your comment on our blog and let you know I’ve been trying to find you to thank you, when I just happened to find you on Google. Only to our surprise that we were part of your Friday Fab 4. We were shocked and so humble that you would mention us and would like to thank you for your wonderful thoughts about our blogs. We appreciate your kind and funny words.
Have enjoyed your letters to your dogs, they are thoughtful and cute.
Thank you again,
24 Paws of Love
You are most welcome!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Deborah Flick, Rod Burkert, Mary E Haight, Debbie Wilkins1, Michelle McCaulley and others. Michelle McCaulley said: RT @ThisOneWildLife: Checking out: Dear Sadie: Love Letter #3 to My Dog from APDT http://bit.ly/blhsul (via @boulderdog1) […]
Exciting, made me wish I was there. Hope you and Sadie will enjoy nose work. Great example of the skunk, and how dogs can analyze all the different scents. They are truly amazing.
Oh thank you. I think there is a place about an hour away from us that offers nose work classes. I’ll be checking it out when return home. Are you doing nose work with Kenzo and Viva?