. . . in the distant, early morning . . .

Dog training extravaganza, and a tribute

Having two dogs is a huge learning experience.

When I trained Elka, I didn’t really know anything outside of “sit” and house-training.  With her I learned how to teach a lot of tricks, how to build foundation behaviors, how to motivate.  Elka taught me how much of a bond training could bring.

Elka is absolutely an incredible, smart dog.  She also has a mind of her own.  When I ask her to do something I can see her brain chugging along and asking, “what’s in it for me?”  I always have to be ready to one-up myself in order to teach her.  It’s the husky in her: that independent streak that I love.

Milton, on the other hand, is benefitting from my training.  What I mean is, the training that I went through learning how to work with Elka is now being applied to Milton.  He’s an exceptionally smart pup, even more food motivated than Elka (wouldn’t have believed that possible before) and also praise motivated.  With him I do not see, “what’s in it for me?”; with him I see, “please Lisa, please Lisa, please Lisa, please Lisa!”.  What do I mean by that?  I mean that he wants to do it for me.  Oh he wants the treat, he wants it badly, but with every day he wants my approval more and more. 

Elka was never praise motivated: cheering and praising was never enough pay-off for her.  Oh it was a bonus, sure, but not what she would work for.  Yet if you ask anyone, Elka and I are extremely bonded.  She won’t let someone else hold her leash, and she won’t work for someone else. 

But with Milton, praise is a huge motivator.  Combined with a treat he’ll do anything as long as he can figure out what I’m asking; and if he can’t figure it out, he’ll offer behaviors until he does.  Oh, Elka offers too if I have a heck of a tasty treat - but Milton just wants to show off.

I’m also seeing Milton learn from Elka.  If I ask for something, and he doesn’t understand, and Elka gets a treat for doing it right? He’ll mimic her.  I can catch that and teach the behavior and the next time is much faster.

But Elka is also benefitting from Milton’s training.  I’m learning new approaches to teaching recall and heel, for instance, and I’m applying those skills to Elka’s training.  I can feel her and I bonding even more closely, even while I bond with Milton.

For a long time, I didn’t feel that I could ever bond with a second dog while I had Elka.  She and I are just that close; but then Milton came into the picture and something about him, his personality, his interactions with me, taught me that I could love a second dog without detracting from the bond I have with Elka.  In many ways I’ve reclaimed my love of dog training from working with both Milton and Elka together and we’ll soon start learning two-dog tricks.  I’ve also learned how to teach each dog patience while I work with the other in the same room, and I can see how that work bonds the dogs more closely to each other and to me - creating not jealousy, but understanding and patience.

Having a multi-dog household is a new experience for me, but I feel incredibly blessed to be part of this adventure.  In March 2008 I bought a house knowing I wanted two dogs.  Shortly thereafter I visited Bonnie Hayes and was won over by those incredible brown eyes and an outgoing, fearless nature, all wrapped up in the 4 month old bundle that is Elka.

Elka’s coming into my life has led me down the road of dog rescue, foster, training, and behavior.  I will be forever grateful to her for opening my eyes to this experience.

2 years later my dream of having two dogs has come true, almost exactly as I had planned it.  To some, this may be a small dream to fulfill, but to me it’s been far too many years in the making.

And to the he who would be my senior dog right now: I love you and I miss you.  I am sorry that I didn’t know all of this before, so that I could give you a more enriching and stimulating life, so that I could help you not be afraid of other dogs, so you could be happier.  But you saved my life through several major transitions, and you will always be Number 1.  You taught me, above all, that dogs really are what I had always dreamed.  You taught me patience, love, and perseverance.  You taught me that open stairs are terrifying, and you taught me there is always another path.  You taught me to never give up.  I love you Odin, then, now, and always.

 

-Lisa, on April 22, 2010 at 5:30 pm

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