"The Dog Whisperer"

The book I've just finished reading is "Cesar's Way" by Cesar Millan (co-authored with Jo Peltier). The sub-title to this book is "The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding & Correcting Common Dog Problems."

One thing I learned from this book is that the problems are hardly ever within the dogs... the problems begin with incorrect training or actions and reactions from the dogs' owners.  My husband and I have watched "The Dog Whisperer" on The National Geographic Channel and we were always amazed at how easily and quietly Cesar could tame even the wildest dog and correct his inappropriate behavior patterns.

Cesar believes that people should never yell at a dog. By doing so, you're telling the dog you are totally out of control and the dog will just ignore you (as they would ignore an insistently barking dog). Reading through this book, Cesar doesn't care much for dog parks... too much excitement, too little control from the dog-owners, and the resulting behavior by dogs who might fight or attack isn't a very nice outcome at all.

We took Savannah to the local dog park today... I wasn't too thrilled about doing that, after just reading Cesar's book, but my husband thought it would be a good idea for Savannah. We first took care of some errands, leaving Savannah in the car when we both went into a store for a short time---  it was not warm out today, not too sunny, and cool enough for Savannah to be safe in the car with all the windows open a bit.  This puppy just sat in the back seat of that car and watched the world go by... not a peep, not a bark, nothing.  Savannah is proving to us that she not only likes riding in the car, but it agrees with her.

When we got to the dog park afterwards, there were no other dogs there bigger than Savannah, and certainly not any pit-bull types that one of the other dog-owners had warned us about last week. Within fifteen minutes of our arrival, a woman with two medium-sized dogs came into the park... friendly woman, friendly dogs... Savannah had a blast playing and running with both of them. After we all introduced ourselves (including the names of the dogs-- Pixie and Ivan) this woman told us to be careful of a pit-bull owner... she described the dog, the owner, and the owner's truck. This man's dog had bitten that woman twice, and has also fought with her older dog. Not good. And certainly not what I wanted to hear.

The woman told me that she has the license plate number of the man who owns that ill-tempered dog, and I got to thinking that she should have called the police immediately after that dog bit her.  I told my husband that I wouldn't be bringing Savannah to the dog park if he wasn't with us. And I have to laugh... we have 23 acres here... way bigger than the dog park anyway, except all of our property isn't fenced and there are certainly not an ever-changing array of dogs for Savannah to play with here.

When we got home from town, the mail had arrived, bringing with it the second puppy-sweatshirt that I ordered for Savannah. The first one (XXL in size) is too big for her now, but she'll be growing into it.  The second hooded sweatshirt is an XL, bright pink like the first one, and it fits Savannah very well. I put it on her as soon as I took it out of the package and she's been wearing it ever since. It's not that cold today, but it certainly isn't 85 degrees either... it's that time of the year when you don't need to turn on either the air-conditioning or the heater, and sometimes the inside of the house is cooler than the temperature outside.

As I type, Savannah is walking around the breakfast room and the TV room with her pink teddy bear, wearing her bright pink hoodie. Too cute for words, this puppy. She seems to like the sweatshirt and hasn't pulled at it or tried to bite at it. I'm wondering if the feel of it makes her more secure. They sell thunder-jackets for dogs now, just for that reason. It's a tight-fitting jacket that you put around your dog if it's afraid of thunder and lightning. My friend A in North Carolina bought one of those for her German Shepard who would howl and quiver and cry during rain storms. Not so any longer.... A ordered that thunder-jacket and now KoKo is as quiet and as content as a mouse in bad storms.

I wonder what Cesar Millan would say about these hooded sweatshirts and thunder-jackets... he does believe that American dog owners are guilty of over-indulging their dogs to such an extreme that it psychologically damages their dogs.  In this book of his, he wrote that dog owners here just don't let dogs be dogs... he says we treat them like children with four legs and fur.

Well.... Savannah just walked into the breakfast room... still wearing her pink hoodie, carrying her pink teddy bear in her mouth while trying to pick up her blue monkey at the same time so she can carry them both into her very soft and plush dog bed.

Savannah seems to be very happy. I'm happy because she's happy. Cesar Millan would definitely not approve. Oh well.