Day: April 6, 2014

The Divine Old Dog speaks of sadness sometimes,

some of her old friends are sick,

the deer had the toughest winter,

the birds froze in their trees,

the Divine Old Dog down the road,

who barked with her every morning,

my best friend,

is gone, she says, she barks no more.

There is so much sadness in the world,

so many aching legs and sore feet,

so much death and sorrow,

isn’t it good to cry sometimes,

and just feel bad?

I am swimming in the River Of Life.

I pray to be humble, says the Divine Old Dog,

so that the world does not appear to be so stingy

with love and joy and good news,

I pray to be honest, strong, kind to those I love, pure,

so that life does not appear to be

a cruel old miser,

hoarding his shiny gold,

counting the money in his bank.

Never mind, says the Divine Old Dog,

life can be a joy, life can be a mess,

I had this dream, she confides,

that the Gods invited me to a party,

and everyone who came had an angel

for a partner, sitting on their shoulder, sharing the table,

and the Divine Old Dog knows the beautiful truth,

that there is no one on this earth,

no person,

no dog,

who is not invited to dance,

on their crystal dance floor,

a million stars twirling in the skies.

One of the many ways people emotionalize and confuse their dogs is by thinking that dogs are having fun and playing when they are chasing balls. Dogs like Labs do not really play too much when the get older, what they do is get aroused and replicate all sorts of hunting and chasing behaviors with other dogs, in play groups, and when they are given toys and balls to chases all day, or grabbed and shrieked at. This the easiest way to make a Lab and other dogs hyper and super-aroused, so I have a lot rules about playing. No wrestling or balls or toys in the house after puppyhood – ever. A few times a week we bring a ball on our walks, and Lenore proves to me over again that she is not playing she is hunting.

This photo reminds me that Lenore is playing. Just picture a rabbit on the road instead of a ball and you will get the picture.

Most dogs, especially hunting dogs, are killing machines, play brings out their prey drive, arouses them,  and the easiest way to make them hyper, obnoxious and over-aroused is to push them into continuous play and exercise because it makes us feel happy and fulfilled. When Lenore chases a ball, her prey drive is coming to the fore, and prey drive is not the thing you want to encourage in a puppy or a grown-up dog.  It also makes them nuts, they are dogs people are always yelling at and squawking about. There are few good things for a dog to do with a lot of prey drive in most houses.

The most important thing to teach a dog is how to do nothing, and Labs especially need this, I call it calming training. Lenore is a wonderful dog, content, lean and healthy. She only gets to chase balls on this road, nowhere else. When people come to the farm, they instinctively pick up sticks or toss things for her, and it doesn’t bother them that she starts to get obsessive, hyper-aroused, exhausted and crazy, they think it’s what they are supposed to do.

People come to the farm or we see them elsewhere, and many people grab Red and shake him, growl at him and squeak in high voices until he goes crazy, whines and jumps – which they happily reinforce – and they don’t see this as a foolish thing to do to a border collie, all of whom know how to be crazy but have to learn how to be calm. So I am the grunge, and it is a major reason I have great dogs. I don’t confuse hunting and arousal with play and affection.

Lenore does not bother me or Maria for a ball away from this road, Red does not whine in arousal when he sees me or jump up on me. It is so important to understand the role of play in the life of a puppy and then, in so many different ways, in the life of an adult dog. Puppies need play to socialize and learn appropriate behaviors, adult dogs need exercise, attention, and healthy diets. Usually, it is the people who need them to play.

The idea of the Madonna has inspired as much art as almost anything else in human history, these representations of sanctity and love have moved artists for thousands of years, they always move me. This one seemed to be whispering to me, she is from the 14th century and is at the Hyde Museum in Glens Falls, where we went to see the Ansel Adams exhibit. I’m putting up some photos on Facebook.

We had just left the Ansel Adams show, and I could see George was much affected by it, he didn’t say much but I could sense he was trying to put all of his feelings together, I could see it was a powerful experience for him, it brought back, it brought him to the present and the future. Adams was an important part of his life and work and now, George is experiencing some wonderful recognition. I watched him as he went from one window to another, looking out at the light, he is as drawn to the light as I am. I thought it was a wonderful portrait of this complex man, an authentic genius. I thought his genius was stirred by the work of another genius, I could hear his head spinning with contact prints, sizes, enlargers and the techniques of the wizards.

Maria was drawn to a frame filled with beautiful thimbles, and I was drawn to her face in the mirror, my camera is visible in the upper left corner of the photo, which makes it a family portrait I think.