THE OTHER END OF THE LEASH

I have read your excellent comments with great interest, thank you all so much for writing. I do agree that in many ways it is far too simplistic to sort the world into two groups as I did in my earlier post. I suspect that it’s easy to oversimplify when you are frustrated, and truth be told, I was feeling a bit frustrated when I wrote last week. Part of that stemmed from recently hearing what I believe has been meant as a compliment to Calling All Pets. Several times I’ve heard people say that Calling All Pets is a good show for Wisconsin Public Radio because “it brings in people who wouldn’t normally listen to pubic radio.” This presupposes that the show’s listeners are different than most listeners of public radio. Does that mean that most people who listen to public radio are not that interested in pets and animal behavior…? I have to say, in fourteen years of doing the show, I’ve heard hundreds and hundreds of people comment on the show, and never once has anyone said “You know, I never listened to public radio before, but now that I’ve listened to your show, I”ll start!” That is what got me thinking about the word ‘pets’ and how ambivalent we are about it (and them) as a society.

Speaking about how we categorize the animals we live with, I love Jeff’s comments about the three perspectives that the dog food company grouped people into: 1) dog as dog, 2) dog as part of the family and 3) dog AS family.  Of course, as many of you so appropriately pointed out, there are vast continuums within those 3 categories, but I like the way this grouping gets you thinking about where you place your own animals. (And oh yes, yes, it is so true that “Just a….” can be applied to any group, whether it be cats or rats or gerbils.  You can find earlier writings that talk about children as “just children”… sigh.)

One of the continuums that I find especially interesting are people who would be categorized as “dog as dog” people… those who have working animals on farms or ranches.  I have spent a lot of time with farmers and ranchers who have working dogs and horses, who ostensibly will tell you that their relationship with their animals is mostly that of utility. And yet, nothing can choke up a cowboy quicker than losing a dog he worked with for ten years, and a great horse who became one of his best friends.  Perhaps that’s one of the most interesting part of our complicated relationship with our ‘pets’.. that they can assume so many roles: family members, colleagues, and best friends too. This, of course, includes the knowledge that family members don’t always get along, colleagues can drive you crazy and best friends can betray you… our relationships with dogs and other pets isn’t always smooth, but it sure is interesting.

Speaking of interesting, I just talked to Temple Grandin (author of Animals in Translation) and she has a new book coming out soon, titled Animals Make Us Human.  I have a review copy and can’t wait to read it… It’s coming out in January. I’ll keep you posted.

Back on the farm.. here’s some photos from the clearing out the 5 huge elm trees that died a few years ago, and have been threatening to fall on my power lines. A bunch of wonderful folks came out, chain saws a’blazing, and we cut and hauled and ran branches through the rented chipper for 6 hours.  Tired, but what a wonderful day to work outside. Poor Will didn’t get much work that day… but  if I can get my work done before dark, he will tonight!

I was working on my new book, coming out from Dogwise in early November, and found a section that relates, I suspect, to the cancellation of my radio show, Calling All Pets. The book, coming out from Dogwise, (Tales of Two Species) is a collection of my columns from Bark magazine. One of them is titled “Pet Peeves.” In it I write about our country’s ambivalent feelings about our pets. On the one hand, many of us love them, treat them like family and can’t imagine life without them. They are as important to our well-being as is literature, music and art. (For some of us, I’d add food, water and oxygen.) And yet, look at how often we hear people say, demeaningly, that an animal is “just a pet.” Here’s an excerpt from the essay:

“Just a pet.” How many times have you heard someone say that? Perhaps it was a conformation breeder who observed, “This pup doesn’t have a good top line, so he should be sold as just a pet.” You’ve probably read the phrase in articles about how much we love our companion animals: “It is remarkable how much money the American public spends just on pets.” And companion animal owners use it—ask any veterinarian, who too often hears: “We just adore our little Cocker Spaniel, she’s the greatest joy of our lives, but we can’t afford to spay her because she’s just a pet.”

Part of the problem, I suspect, is the derivation of the word “pet.” It began as a reference to a spoiled, over-indulged child and only recently has been used to describe the dogs and the cats sharing our homes. “Spoiled and over-indulged” are not words designed to engender respect or importance, now are they? It seems that the American psyche is highly ambivalent about our companion animals… either acknowledging how much they add to our lives, or dismissing them as trivial things, something akin to children’s toys. Nice to have around, but not really important. I wrote about this at length in the afterward to For the Love of a Dog–trying to explain why those of us who love dogs so much are not neurotic or socially challenged, at least not any more than the rest of the country. One of my favorite books about the bond between people and dogs is Pack of Two, by the late (and amazing) writer, Carolyn Knapp. It is a beautiful, beautiful book, and if you haven’t read it, go get a copy right now. I deeply regret that she died, tragically, before she was able to grace us with more of her writings (and, selfishly, before I was able to meet her).

I am curious what others have found. Do you also wonder sometimes if the world sorts into two groups? Group one includes those whose love for animals informs each and every day of their lives (in this case I mean companion animals, but there’s much to say in later writings about the importance of our connection to wild animals and an understanding of their behavior). Group 2 includes people who can take them or leave them, being indifferent to pets at best and those who love them, or at worst demeaning the bond between people and animals as an example of social ineptitude. Of course, I’m oversimplifying, but I’m curious what others experience.. do you often feel like you have to justify your love for your dogs, cats, horses? (ferrets, cockatiels, rats, etc…)

Meanwhile, it’s a gorgeous fall day here. My digital camera broke this morning, or I’d show you more pictures of Will working the lamb flock. I am busting out of my britches with pride for him… he is blossoming every day into a wonderful working stock dog. This morning the biggest ram lamb (probably 100+ pounds) turned to face Will down, ducking his head and threatening Will with a charge. Will held his ground (they were face to face, about a foot between their eyes) and stayed cool (I was saying ‘Stea-a-a-a-a-a-dy’ in my lowest and most soothing of voices) and the lamb finally turned and went where Will told him to. A few months ago Will would have exploded at the lamb, not biting but charging forward. That was okay for a young dog; the dog has to win in situations like that (sheep are not stupid, they learn very fast if they can beat a dog) even if the process isn’t elegant. However, it’s much better to keep things calm and quiet. A year ago Will would’ve backed up and the ram lamb would’ve won unless I came in to help (which I would if necessary.) Will just recently turned two, and it is a beautiful thing to watch him grow up and learn to control his emotions, and take charge when he needs to.

But still, really, Wll’s primary value to me is as a companion dog. I guess that means, when it comes down to it, Will is ‘just a pet.‘ Like Lassie, he adds love and light and joy into my life every day. What a gift.

Here are some photos from the last few days. The first shows Willie moving the lambs a few days ago into the orchard pasture (from which they escaped, got in with the ewe flock and probably bred their mothers. sigh.)

This is Lassie digging in the grass (a favorite activity for her) behind part of a huge dead elm clump that had to come down. Cutting it up into firewood and making the rest into wood chips for the garden will take up most of this coming Sunday.

The last photo is of a Katydid.  (who I originally identified as a Snowy Tree Cricket until graciously corrected by a reader! Whoops….) As common as Field Crickets and Katydids are here in Wisconsin, Snowy Tree Crickets are also common, and can tell you the temperature (no kidding). Just count the number of their chirps in 13 seconds (okay, I’ll admit, you often have to record them and slow it down to count!) and add 40, and you’ve go the temp in F. This photo was from a long courtship between a male and a female, all on the side of the house.

Well, this is a hard one to write.  Wisconsin Public Radio has cancelled production of Calling All Pets.  They will still play repeats for several months in Wisconsin, and stations around the country have the option of offering the show until next summer.  I’ve been doing the show with Larry Meiller for fourteen years, and it’s hard to imagine not doing it anymore. It’s tough  timing too in that the show had taken off last year, thanks to a lot of work from Larry, me and a new producer and executive producer. The show was even picked up in Washington DC, Dallas and Seattle. However, I have to admit that I won’t miss getting up early in the morning to do the show, and working seven weekends a year on pledge drives and fund raising events.  But here’s what I will miss:

Working with Larry Meiller. He is a truly wonderful man, and he makes it look easy to be on the radio.  It isn’t, not if you’re good at it, but you’d never know that listening to him. He taught me so much, and I will forever be indebted to him. I think of him as a close friend, and will come on his daily show as a guest on occasion.

Connecting with people who believe that animals are important. This is the toughest part by far.  I have realized since I heard the news about the cancellation that what I have valued most about the show is the connection it has given me to a group of people who believe that our love, interest and concern for animals–both wild and domestic–is important.  It’s as important as music or art or literature or news about sports events. It seems that the world sorts into two groups in a way: those who get it, and those who don’t. It feels like I’ve worked all my life to  convince people that our connection to animals is important, that “pets” aren’t trivial and that knowledge and concern about the natural world is vital to our individual and social health.

The great thing about Calling All Pets is that I had fourteen years to make that argument, along with advocacy for using positive reinforcement, instead of punishment and “dominance” as a training technique.  Fourteen years is a long time in the media, and I’m truly grateful to WPR for creating that opportunity. I expect that the decision to cancel the show didn’t come easily, and that the decision was made by folks doing their best to make the best decisions they could for WPR. I wish they hadn’t made the decision they did, but it will give me an entire day a week to do other things. Who knows what doors will open as another one shuts.

Speaking of opportunity, how very glad I am that I have this blog. I have already enjoyed your comments immensely, and am grateful that I have another opportunity to communicate to others who believe that animals are important.

On a lighter note: On Sunday, ironically, I had a party for donors to Calling All Pets and WPR. It was delightful to meet such generous people, and we had a great time.  I didn’t think to get any photos during the party (geeeez), but thought you might enjoy what my rug looked like right before everyone came and what it looked like a few hours after they left.

Pre party rug:

Post party rug (it’s usual condition)

Of course, the newspapers, dog magazines and journal articles are still hidden in the study, the mangy wool cover over the couch isn’t as mangled and messed up as it usually is, and there are no clouds of dog hair wafting around.  Otherwise, it looks pretty much like normal…

Isn’t this a GREAT picture? It is one of my favorites BUT, disorganized doof that I am, I can’t find the name and contact information of the wonderful person who sent it to me. Dogwise is doing a new book (Tales of Two Species, coming out in early November) of my columns from Bark magazine and we want to use this wonderful picture in it! If this is you, please write and let Andrea know!

Another gorgeous fall day. Willie and I get to move the lamb flock through the woods every morning. The lambs stay the day in the ‘orchard pasture,’ so called because it’s full of wild apple trees, and the ewe flock gets to forage in the  big, open pasture at the top of the hill. They all chomp on fallen apples all the day long, (they know the sound of a fallen apple; they run toward the tree when they hear the ‘plunk’!)

It is wonderful to have real work for Will, he has blossomed this year especially since he’s had to split the lambs from the ewes and load animals into the truck.  Rather than “practice,” this is real work and I think he knows it. I am far less concerned with him doing things exactly right than I am getting the job done, especially when splitting out the lambs or loading sheep.  Of course, we ‘practice’ every morning when we move the lambs up the hill, and when we bring the flocks back down at the end of the day–right now Will is working on maintaining a steady pressure rather than pushing a little too hard and fast or stopping altogether–but there’s nothing like Will knowing that I am counting on him to make his own decisions to get a job done.  Last week I began to ask him to leave me and the barn, run through the woods and find the sheep (who could be 3 or 4 hundred yards away, through woods and up and over hills) and bring them back down to me. He’s done it 4 out of 5 times, and I am not sure who is more proud!

Speaking of independence, I got an email recently from a Calling All Pets listener who was distressed to hear that Will spends some time in a crate. (He’s in one right now.) I am the first to say that crates can be, and are often abused, but I am absolutely convinced at the same time that crates can be used to a dog’s advantage. Will is old enough now to be left loose in the house, and I actually started doing that a few months ago. He doesn’t chew or go to the bathroom in the house, so why not?  However, I put him back in his crate when I’m gone because he behaved so differently when I came home if he had been loose. He was hyper vigilant, leaping up at every sound, barking at the slightest noise etc. This is a dog who is on chinese herbs (Shen Calmer), cooling foods and who gets lots and lots of exercise. My belief is that Will is, at least, over simulated by being loose in the house and being able to look out the window and see cars, trucks go by on the county highway. I suspect, although I know some other behaviorists and scientists would disagree, that it is more than that. One explanation for Will’s change in behavior is that if he is loose, he perceives himself as being responsible for taking care of the house. I lean toward this explanation (or both, actually), but I am aware I am just making a guess.. a guess that many would argue attributes far too much cognitive ability to a dog.

I’m curious.. What do others think?

Meanwhile, here’s some photos of the morning…

Willie moves the lamb flock into the ‘orchard pasture’,their pasture for the day.

This is Dorothy, the noble elder of the ewe flock.

Oh, what a joy to be home in fall on the farm. It may have rained much of the weekend, but that’s okay, we needed the moisture. In spite of the rain I got to spend much of Sunday out in the country with Willie, Lassie and weekend visitor Brody (the Cavalier) out in the hills collecting wild apples.  Five huge buckets full. Yum yum. Yum for us… I made applesauce much of Sunday afternoon (thanks to friend Harriet who leant me her Foley  Food Mill; now that’s a handy item) while the dogs slept. Yum for the sheep: the ewe flock got to crunch away on juicy apples that I tossed into their feeders.  The lamb flock is separate (I don’t castrate the ram lambs, so the boys are now old enough to breed their mommas. Not a great idea!) and has access to lots of wild apples on their own, so everyone at lots of apples yesterday.

Sheep ADORE apples, they crunch into them as if eating candy. I love feeding them this food that comes free and wild every year in southern  Wisconsin. What a time of bounty. I’d include a photo I took of red ripe apples, but I don’t have it here at work. I’ll bring it in tomorrow.

But back to dogs… isn’t it wonderful when your dogs have had plenty of exercise and sleep soundly in the house while you putter at something in the kitchen? I remember a few years ago Jim and I were spoiled by our hosts when we went to Montana for me to do a seminar. (Our hosts were Nancy Tanner and the Galloping Dog Agility & Flyball Club in Bozeman. What wonderful folks… visit them at www.gallopingdog.com) The day before the seminar, we were taken on a 12 mile horseback ride into the mountains. What a joy. I used to ride a lot, so it was like going home for me. (Jim had never ridden, what an introduction! He was amazing, I have to say. And so was his wonderfully reliable horse.) I bring this trip up because two dogs accompanied us on the ride, running helter skelter, back and forth for the entire ride. They easily  must have run over twenty miles.  I swear, they were barely tired at the end of the trip.  Oh, if only our dogs could have exercise like that every day! Okay, maybe that wouldn’t be good for a pug, but think of all those retrievers and herding dogs bred to work who don’t have that much to do. What a wonderful feeling it is for those of us who own them to see our dogs sleeping soundly after a good, long session of healthy exercise. Ummmm. Part of why Karen London and I wrote Play Together, Stay Together is to help people find ways to exercise their dogs for their sake, as well as for their dogs. I have included a photo of Mr. Will enjoying one of his toys. It always lifts my heart to watch dogs playing.

Meanwhile,  Willie slept for a couple of hours, and then ran his tail off searching the high pasture for the lamb flock in the evening so that we could bring them down for their grain. He came home happy to gobble up his dinner and rest again, while we sat down to a dinner from fresh, local and ogranic sources. Yumm. I do love fall!

Applesauce, anyone?

I’m still thinking about all the wonderful dogs I met in Sweden and Norway (not to mention their humans!). I paid a lot of attention to breeds–it seems that the mix of breeds here in the states is changing, although that’s just a perception, not a fact. I have seen so many ‘rare’ breeds lately, it seems it’s in fashion to get a dog that no one has ever heard of (or can pronounce the name of).

People in Sweden told me that the most popular breed by far was the German Shepherd, followed by the Labrador Retriever. My 10 days in Scandanavia were hardly an accurate sample, but what struck me most was that I saw a little bit of so many breeds in the two countries we visited. Here’s a breakdown, from my  notes:

GSD 1

Labrador Retriever, 3

Corgi 1

Swedish Valhund 1 (the Swedes were very interested to learn what we called their herding dog. They’d never heard the term “valhund” before! Their breed name is Västgötaspets.)

Swedish Lapphund 1 (a northern breed used for  herding reindeer, also called the Lapinkoira, and also found in Finland as the Finnish Lapphund.) This was a first for me, was fun to meet a new breed altogether. And no, darn it, I didn’t get to see one work reindeer, but I did get to see wild reindeer which was a thrill!)

Border Collie 1

Tervuren 1

Rough coated Collie 1

Cairn Terrier 1

Wire haired  Terrier 1

Wheaton Terrier 1

Australian Shepherd 1

Boxer 1

I could go on, but basically, it seemed like every time I saw a dog, it was of a different breed. And I saw dogs everywhere.  What a joy to see dogs come onto trains and buses without anyone giving it a thought.

There was one other exception to the “one dog of each breed” rule… for some reason I saw 7 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels! No idea why.. .random, or are they really that popular? Anyone reading this who has lived over there and has a comment about popular breeds?

Here’s the Lapphund:

(And have you heard Ray Coppinger’s story about looking for an Anatolian?  He found a dog that fit the description while traveling in the area where they are used, and asked the flock’s shepherd if the dog was indeed an Anatolian. The man looked at Ray and said “Are these the  Anatolian Mountains?” The dog’s genetics were irrelevant, if it was herding sheep at the base of the Anatolian mountains, then OF COURSE it was an Anatolian Shepherd! A good reminder that “breed” means different things to different people.)

Home. Ummmm, feels so good. Even though the trip was wonderful in so many ways, it is SO good to be home. As I wrote earlier, I greatly enjoyed presenting a seminar in Sweden—the people were so kind and interesting, and our vacation in the fjord country of Norway was heavenly. (see the photos attached). And yet… Dorothy was right. There’s no place like home.

I wonder how many dog lovers are as ambivalent as I. I love to travel. I love seeing new places, eating new food, learning about new cultures, eating new food, seeing the world from new perspectives, eating new food. Did I mention eating new food? (If you go to southern Sweden, you really, really want to try Äggakaka. It’s an eggy, creamy, quichey, omelettey thing, covered with Ligonberry sauce. Yummy)

And yet, as much as I love to travel, it’s so hard to leave my dogs. I think that’s especially true now that Lassie is so old, but maybe not. I just hate leaving them, period. We had some of the world’s finest house sitters (thank you Jim and Sheryl!) so it wasn’t so much that I was worried about the dogs, but it was just so hard to leave them. Okay, so I was worried. Just a little.

Am I the only one who gets teary eyed as the car drives away from the house on the way to the airport

There’s a lesson here for all of us interested in training dogs. My quandry over enjoying travel and wanting to be home is a perfect example of how “positive reinforcement” is defined by the receiver. If you told me I could have an all-expense paid trip to Spain or Paris two weeks from now I’d turn it down. Right now all I want to do is to be home on the farm, with Lassie, Willie, and Sushi the cat. I want to watch the sheep eat apples from our wild apple trees, and savor and process the bounty of local, organic produce from the CSA down the road. As much as I enjoyed the trip, more travel right now would be punishment, not positive reinforcement.

What a good reminder that “positive reinforcement” is always, by definition, decided by the receiver, not by the ‘giver.’ This is easy to forget, especially for novice trainers, and so it deserves discussion in any dog training class or private session. For example, the owner may feel good praising and petting their dog if he came when called away from a play session, but it might be the last thing the dog wanted at that moment. (Getting petted while cuddling on the couch is a far cry from getting pets in the middle of romping at the dog park with one’s buddies. Do you want your sweetie to rub your neck when you’re in the middle of a tennis match?) At seminars sometimes I’ll praise and pet a dog for giving up a toy, and ask the audience to grade my “reinforcement.” If I sound happy and exuberant, I’ll get straight “A’s” from the crowd. But then, I’ll ask them to watch the dog’s face and praise as pet as before. This time they’ll notice, that while I was happy-talking up a storm, the dog turned his head away from the petting (I was doing on the top of his head in that pat-pat kind of way that most dogs don’t like) and didn’t look happy at all. I may have sounded good, but I was actually punishing the dog, not reinforcing him. Food for thought.

Meanwhile, here’s some of the reinforcing part of of travel… staying in the astoundingly beautiful village of Flam, Norway.

I’m sitting in the lobby of the old Fredheim Hotel in Flam, Norway.  It’s at the base of an endless fjord on the west coast of Norway.  Gorgeous. I’m here because last weekend I presented a two day seminar in Tomalilla, Sweden (toe-ma-lee-lah… it’s really lovely to say!), hosted by Natasja and Daniel Atterbom. (eeeps, I may have spelled their name wrong. apologies if so.)  Natasja and her friend Malvini could not have been more gracious hosts, and the people who attended were an absolute delight. It was truly a joy to speak there, and to meet so many people in Sweden who love their dogs so much.  I’ve learned Sweden is much like the states, in that “getting dominance” over your dog is still terribly popular. But the people who attended the seminar were knowledgeable and delightful.  I also got to meet, besides a Swedish Valhund (they don’t call them that in Sweden!) a Laplonian Herding Dog, who is bred to herd reindeer.

Speaking of, we saw 4 wild reindeer at the top of the mountains outside of Flam. That is only because we took a local taxi (driven by the fire chief, filling in for his friend who was sick, bless him) to a gorgeous overlook that has a great view of the fjords and the sub-arctic plateua above tree line where the reindeer live.  The reindeer were very far away, you could only see them with binoculars, but I was still thrilled.  I”m so easy when it comes to animals.

We also saw seals (so skittish, it’s obvious they are hunted here) and black dolphins in a boat tour this morning.  I can’t describe the beauty of this area.. narrow waterways with mountains that tower straight up on either side.  Puffy clouds sailing amongst the peaks (okay, yesterday, on another boat ride, it was just plain old raining.  man was it cold in the open boat!), Irish green pastures scattered amongst the craigs and waterfalls. Waterfalls everywhere.  Salmon (to eat) everywhere.  I have eaten enough that I could be harvested for Omega 3’s for months.

Will write more soon, couldn’t get onto my blog (the password was changed, but didn’t know!) until now.  Only one more day in this area, leaving to Bergen, a little town on the coast everyone says is gorgeous, then fly home on Sunday.  Lordy I’ve missed the dogs, though house sitters extraordinaire, Jim and Sheryl have sent us emails and eve photos and are clearly doing a fantastic job.

Last thoughts: Southern Sweden looks like the best of Wisconsin, except surrounded by the ocean and full of salmon and herring (boiled salmon at Malvini’s grandma’s house.. YUM!). Green, hilly, cows everywhere, apple trees heavy with fruit.  Norway, on the coast, is dramatic and gorgeous. Food not as good as Sweden (the Swedes warned us!) and much more expensive. But people also very kind, and very proud of their country. As well they should be….

Trisha