One of the things we love to do with our dogs is walk with them on the many country and unpaved roads that are around us, and that we love.
So far, we haven’t ever walked Bud off leash off of the farm. We haven’t trusted him. I love walking, so he and I tried it out this morning.
Unlike the border collies, who are instantly responsive and tend to stay close to us – they can be recalled instantly if a car show up – Boston Terriers are different. They explore the woods and smells, they follow their noses, they run up ahead.
This means I may be more tense and impatient than usual, something I need to acknowledge and check.
Today was the first time I took Bud with off leash. I do have confidence that he will not run off, but he does wander pretty far. That’s the training challenge, I need him close enough to respond quickly and reliably should care appear at either end of the road.
I believe in giving dogs a chance to succeed, not fail, but I also need to be cautious with him. He can explode when he sees a goose or deer or big bird.
I need to do this successfully for a couple of hundred times before I will relax. Training is continuous, it goes on forever, it cannot be done in four classes at the local pet shop. It is monotonous and requires planning, thought and enthusiasm.
I picked the above spot in the road because the sight lines a long. They can see us a long way off, and I can see them.
I keep working on trust with Bud and first, and continuing to strengthen his recall. He came to us beat-up, wary and fearful. He is none of those things now, but I don’t yet have the confidence in managing him that I have had with my other dogs, at least not yet.
Small dogs like Bud, Terriers, are new to me. We are still working things out together. He is a good dog and he pays attention to me, half the battle.
I decided to let him off-leash and trust him. I let him run up ahead and then test the recall. Each day I will shorten the recall distance until he stays within easy call-in range. This will take some time. And there is some risk.
Notice in the video that he didn’t come instantly when I called, him, sniffed and foraged for a second or two and then came, and after that, came instantly.
The border collies always come instantly and they move fast. So a reminder for me to be positive and patient and speak in a normal, upbeat voice.
The road has good visibility. I would have time to call him back and failing that, to step in front of a car and stop it. We do this all the time for one another in the country. There is some risk to almost everything that is worth doing, and also great rewards.
How can we have the dogs we want if we don’t give them the chance?
I must not expect instant obedience from Bud. Realistic expectations are hugely important in dog train. Bud arrived at about two years old, completely untrained, weak and recovering from heartworm treatment.
So obedience and spit-spot recalls are new to him in some ways, although we have made wonderful strides.
I want to trust him to walk off-leash with me, and I want him to trust me. He loves to walk off leash so I have a good foundation to work with. All of our other training has gone well. He loves his treats.
So I’m working slowly and over short distances, and for short periods of time. Today it went very, very, well, better than I had hoped.
I need to continue to be trusting, clear, patient and positive. And to continue with my visualization work, I think clearly about what I wish to happen with him.
I was pretty happy with myself and very happy with Bud’s first off-leash walk. Come and see.
Over the next few weeks, I plan to talk about the intelligence, thought processes and consciousness of dogs, on my blog and on my radio show, Talking to Animals, broadcast on WBTNAM1370 and available via streaming everywhere every Wednesday from one to three p.m.
Your comments and questions are welcome, [email protected] or please call the station during the show: 802 441-1010 or 866 -406 9286.
This coming week, and on my blog, I want to write about the intelligence of dogs. We all like to think of our dogs as special, brilliant and intuitive. But we know that dogs, like people, vary wildly in intelligence, depending on breeding, litter behavior, nutrition, body size, genetics and intellect.
Some of the nicest dogs are also often the nicest, some of the smartest often make the worst kinds of pets.
The truth is – almost every trainer knows this – the less than brilliant dogs are often the easiest and most loved pets. They just don’t need as much.
A Lab or retriever can do things a mastiff can’t do, and for all kinds of reasons. One is that the mastiff’s body is not built for agility, work or intense physical activity.
Border collie owner are notorious snobs, because the breed has been intensely bred for smarts, agility and responsiveness. Border collies will do just about anything to get to work, including come, sit and stay. Bulldogs are not so motivated. Boston Terriers are bright, but distracted and full of instinct and curiosity, which makes training difficult.
Some less intelligent dogs are difficult to train, but behaviorists and psychologists like author Stanley Coren have written that problems often arise from the fact that the slower dogs often don’t have a clue about what it being asked of them. Trainers say that for the owners of “slower” breeds, basic dog obedience classes are enough to instill the meaning of commands.
One of the many serious problems with the training gurus is that they rarely distinguish between breed or guide us on intelligence and genetic traits, they pretend every dog can be trained in the same way. That is not true. The best dog and animal writers- Patricia McConnell, Sy Montgomery, Coren – all know this. The richest ones lie.
I’ve been combing books and articles for advice to share about how to train the not-so-brilliant dogs. I’ll share them with you now (later in the week, I’ll write about how best to train the smart dogs.)
–Train immediately. Most trainers suggest training dogs after they are several months old. But vets and researchers suggest training the not-so-smart dogs instantly, the minute they get home, and well before six months. Dogs form their world view around 14 weeks, and after that, its tough to change it. The guru trainers generally suggest training starts around six months.
For many dogs, that is way too late.
It is suggested that the basic commands – come, sit, down, heel, stand, and stay be taught as early as possible. For many non-working breeds, a dog that is a year or more old has already lost is openness to training and become set and resistant to change.
It’s also easier to manipulate puppies physically – by gently forcing them into the “sit” or “lie down” position and praising them when they get there.
–Clarity. Always start a command with the dog’s name, “Bud, sit.” This teaches the dog to pay attention to you when you talk. Hand signals also help, as they give the dog two different ways to receive a command. Use as few words as possible and make certain the dog has a chance to understand what you are asking. But keep your words to a minimum, nothing confuses some dogs more than humans shouting words at them, few of which they understand. We should always train our dogs softly and with clarity.
–Speak quietly. Train where it is quiet and there are few distractions. I train just before breakfast or dinner and use kibble as a reward, my dogs pay very close attention to me and to their rewards. There should be no other dogs around and no other distractions.
–Stay close. I always stay close to the dogs when I train them and I keep a leash on them, even if it is lying on the ground. This way, I maintain physical control and contact, and I can alway steps on the leash. I never give a command that I know I can’t enforce, and I insist that every command I give is obeyed.
–Short Sessions. I believe in short training sessions, especially with not-so-smart dogs. It fits my attention span and theirs, I want the sessions to be relaxed, focused and fun. Four or five shorter sessions a day are much better than one or two longer ones, and the dog will have a much better chance of understanding and absorbing what I am teaching.
–Patience, patience, patience. Training my dogs has taught me patience. Shouting doesn’t work, intimidation doesn’t work. Training is a spiritual exercise for me, it is not about obedience. It is the language by which I communicate with my dogs, and they communicate with me. As Stanley Coren writes, “please keep in mind that repetition, practice and patience do off, in the end you can have a dog that is just as reliable and dependable as the supposedly easy to train breeds.”
Training my dogs appropriarely makes me a better human, more patience, less angry and frustrated, more empathetic. And it makes them a wonderful member of the family.
–Keep perspective. I am not the perfect trainer, and I don’t have perfect dogs.
Just because Cesar has the perfect dog doesn’t mean you will have the perfect dog. We are all flawed and imperfect as humans, we will make mistakes, the dogs will make mistakes. A bassett hound will never be trained as quickly or easily as a border collie, not because it is dumb or rebellious but often because it’s particular shape and physiognomy does not permit to respond as quickly or with as much agility.
Each dog and person is different, we live in different places, have different emotional histories, patience levels, and common sense. There is no one way except for the one that works for each of us.
– Dignity. Be Stubborn.
We love our dogs and think they are adorable. Many people (more than is even possible) believe their dogs have been cruelly abused, and thus must be treated with extra care. Others believe that rebellious or blow-off behaviors are cute.
I believe the issue is dignity, and I have a contract with my dogs: I will feed them, love them, give them every opportunity for a full and challenging life. I insist they respect me, my home and work, and my dignity. I need them to be quiet and respectful in the house, I need to be left along when I work, I need them to eliminate outside, I need them not to destroy furniture or property and brush it off as adorable.
Those are dignity issues for me, I give respect and ask for respect.
I also need my dogs to be appropriate with other dogs and people, and to bark only when there is some intrusion on my house or property. These are tall orders, but I insist upon them, and they respond well about 90 to 95 per cent of the time.
I have wonderfully well-behaved dogs. I work at it every day. Living with dogs is often like chess, they make a move, you make a move.. You have to outthink them sometimes.
They come when called, never run off or near a street, eat peacefully next to one another are housebroken and chew their own stuff. They do not harm each other, or the cats, chickens, donkeys and sheep that live here. Nothing makes me madder.
I insist on good training, it is for them and for me, it helps them to live safely and in good health and peacefully in a turbulent word. Insisting on this behavior is the least I can do for them.
To learn or talk about this further (I’ll get to the smarter dogs in a day or so), turn on the radio Wednesday, from one to three p.m. Please call if you’d like to talk, we fixed many of the technical issues last week: 802 442 1010, or 866 402 4286.
You can live stream the show here, or download a free radio app like Simple Radio and listen to my show and every other radio show in the world instantly and for free. This is a community radio broadcast, the station is a non-profit, and I am not compensated for hosting the show or researching the content.
My goal is to create the first gentle, thoughtful and helpful animal show in the country, I really don’t know of another. This is your show, please participate if you can. If you prefer to e-mail me with a question or comment, you are very welcome to do so, and I will read your question on the air. I am [email protected].
Tonight is the first night of Ramadan, an important Muslim holiday, and it seemed to me to be a good time to write about the Jew Man, and the Muslim Man, working together day after day in love and harmony and purpose. Their news sells hatred and conflict for money.
Ali and I were standing together outside of an Albany refugee center a week ago and a man, recently arrived from Afghanistan, looked at us and smiled, “oh, it’s Jew Man and Muslim Man!,” he exclaimed, “look how they work together, they are always together.” He was beaming.
I was startled by the comment needless to say, I tensed for a moment, and then the man came up to us, smiling and laughing, and in broken English he explained to me that there was much talk among the refugees about the “Jew Man and Muslim Man” coming down from the skies to help the refugees. God sent you, he said.
It didn’t really matter that I left Judaism years ago and became a Quaker, the refugees who look at me identify me as Jewish, and they never imagined a Jew Man and a Muslim man working together so closely. They are just amazed. They always offer me sweets and food, and even when I explain that I am a diabetic, they insist.
A couple of weeks ago, Ali and I were sitting in our “office” in a convenience store named Stewart’s in a small country town, where we meet every week – it is halfway between Albany and my farm – and we sit in a plastic booth, and the farmers and truck drivers and hunters getting their coffee and sandwiches gave us some long and deep looks. It was a different world than the one the refugees live in, it might as well have been another planet.
I joked to Ali that I wasn’t sure if they were concluding we were all right, or deciding we were not, or just gaping at this older bookish man and this young and tall very black man speaking in accented English, waving his arms up and down, shouting and laughing and yelling. They don’t see many of either in that Stewart’s.
Ali comes from a culture that is expressive and open and emotional, I come from a culture that is quiet and withdrawn, especially in public. I am always calming him down, he is always cranking me up.
After a few visits, the big men in trucks accepted Ali – people usually do – and then me, and started joking with us, getting him to smile when I was taking his photo, joking he was too ugly to smile in order to make him smile for a photo. That kind of banter is the language of acceptance where I live.
For all the turmoil going on in our country right now, I feel Americans are inherently open and gracious, I trust them mostly, hate is not their natural state, despite what you see on cable news.
One man in the next booth joked that he had never seen a man like Ali in the convenience store. For that matter, he said to me, I don’t see many like you either. I thanked him for not calling the authorities.
I don’t quite know how to describe my friendship with Ali.
He is sometimes a friend, sometimes a brother, sometimes a son, sometimes a father. He lives to help people and kids.
We play all of these roles for one another, calming each other down when we get excited, cheering each up when we are down, trading ideas, offering praise and comfort, plotting and scheming, intervening when the other is getting into trouble , each making sure the other is reasonable and cautious in the work we are doing.
I love Ali, and I think he loves me, we are always overjoyed to see one another, and he has picked up on my tendency to answer my cellphone with a “yo!” We shout “yo, yo, yo!” at one another several times a day. Sometimes we call each other up and say, “okay what good are we doing today?”
If the answer is “none,” then we get to work the next day.
It was at Stewart’s that It hit me, and I sat to Ali, “isn’t it strange the two of us sitting with one, a Muslim and Jew, working together so closely and so well, doing a lot of good and committed to it.”
Wow, he said, he never thought of it that way. Ali does not have a hateful bone in his body, he is always surprised to realize that all people are not like him.
We grasped the irony of it.
All this hatred in the news about Muslims and Jews for thousands of years and there have never been a second’s difficulty between us. So yes, it is possible. It is important.
I appreciated this, I know there was some suspicion and hostility to me at the refugee and immigrant center where I went to meet Ali and begin my work with the refugees. Not everyone is like Ali, and this suspicions of me seemed somehow familiar to me in my bones, and I brushed it off. Like Ali, I am not easily deterred.
Still, it was there, I have rarely felt it in my life, but I know it when I see it, and it did sting sometimes. Ali talked me through it. It is not a simple thing to break into that world. I needed to, I wanted to help.
I never had that prickly feeling with Ali. He embraced me with open arms, so a chance to help his soccer kids and the refugees and immigrants. Ali has a heart of sunshine, he says what is happening now in America, is not the real America, and the real America will come back. That is what he tells the soccer kids.
Ali is not a bureaucrat or big wig, he is van driver at RISSE, the refugee and immigrant center in Albany. He drives kids and adults to and from classes and their homes all day. In the evening, and at night, and on weekends, we gather to do our work. He makes very little money, he is always available to everyone.
Ali and are in a great rhythm now, he hears of refugees in trouble or meets them, and calls me, and we meet them together, figure out how we can help him. He’s the inside man, I’m the outside man. He checks them out, I raise the money and negotiate on his and the refugees behalf. I am deadly on the phone, most reporters learn that, and I love negotiating. Ali is too nice for that.
We come together at the end. I need to meet the people we are helping and get to know them, take their pictures, write about them.
Helping refugees is not simple, there is always paperwork, many details, much confusion in language, customs and culture to navigate. Many have been badly traumatized, there is so much pain and sadness in their eyes.
The easy part is helping them, the hard and unseen part is what goes before that. Ali and I work with an almost mechanical precision. We have the same drive to do some good and get it done right and quickly. He is more patient than I am, has a longer view of things, is more prone to relaxing, smoking an occasional cigarette, talking to friends on his cellphone, worrying about his beloved soccer team, the center of his life.
He works on the other, harder end, arranging for apartments, lawyers, medical help, clothing, food, cellphones, jobs. He calls on me in emergencies, I send out SOS’s to the Army Of Good. We have built a machine of love and good, he says, we are doing great work together. It is important for me to get to know these families and their children, and that is beginning to happen.
Tonight, we are not on the phone to one another as usual. it is a special day.
It is Ramadan, Ali is celebrating. He is an observant Muslim.
Ali is a wonderful friend, a gift to me and many others. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, a celebration of the revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad. It is the name of a month, and its most prominent feature is the fasting practiced by all observant Muslims, adult and children that defines the month. Most of the soccer team fasts and honors the holiday.
I remember Ali on Ramadan last year, he is quieter during the fasting days, more tired and reflective.
On this day, as the sun set on Ramadan, and the fasting ended for today, I sat in silence to give thanks for Ali and the work he is doing with me, and the work he has led me to, and the work we do together. Just think of the work we all could do together.
I also celebrate the hope and the promise – the revelation to both of us – that Jews and Muslims have no need to hate one another, we are full of love and hope for tomorrow.
Happy Ramadan, my brother, thanks for helping me keep love alive-
The first night of the Refugee Kids Retreat at the Pompanuck Farm Institute was sweet and beautiful and easy. They arrived in the early afternoon, got a tour and safety talk, then played soccer, went swimming in the pond, shot some basketball and sat quietly near their yurt. They were not quiet for long.
Fate morphed into one of the boys and raced around happily and madly, Gus was coddled and held and ran around for hours until he just ran into his crate and collapsed. Red sat quietly and kept everybody company.
Then we had dinner in the Round House, a delicious meal of rice, green beans and ginger chicken. Afterwards, we all cleaned up and Scott Carrino lit a fire and we had the nicest times. Ali (Amjad Abdullah Mohammed) sat by the fire and sang the softest and most gentle and mournful love songs – not what I expected, and then Maria and I told scary stories by the fire.
The kids are all students who take classes at RISSE, the refugee and immigrant center based in Albany. Ali is there teacher, and he is so important to them, he is devoted to helping them deal with life in America, he is always there for them, seven days a week, day and night.
I have to add it to my small collection of evenings I shall never forget. I think the kids loved every moment of it and we have a neat day planned for tomorrow. Maria and I are going over to help with breakfast and meals during the day, she’s leading a hike into the woods, then our community is joining us to help with the retreat.
Gordon McQuerry is coming to teach music and sing with the children, I’m teaching a story-telling workshop, Mandy Meyer-Hill, a healer and massage therapist, is coming to show the kids stretching and relaxing and trust exercises. It was, as always, lovely to watch Ali and see his great love for these children, and their love for him.
Thursday, art and drawing lessons from Rachel Barlow, a popular Vermont artist.
Such a man as Ali is really quite rare in my experience, and we are brothers to one another now. He is spending the night in the yurt with the children. Scott and Lisa Carrino are wonderfully open and generous hosts, they seem thrilled to have these kids at Pompanuck.
These children are wonderful people – courteous, polite, thoughtful, and they have been through a great deal. Over the next few days, I hope they see the real America, something many have not yet seen. Welcoming, generous, loving. They are no threat to our country.
It was special for me that this was a family affair. Maria and I joined together, and Red, Fate and even young Gus seemed to get into the spirit of the night, they were an essential part of the retreat, the kids just loved them and they seemed to love being there. Gus, who is tiny and only eight weeks old, ran around with the kids until she literally dropped, and the kids begged me to let the dogs sleep in the Yurt. I was tempted, but said no. They needed to rest.
Can’t wait to get up in the morning and get back to Pompanuck.
There are a number of ways to help the refugee children, now and in the future. You have done a lot.
Thanks to the Bedlam Farm Army Of Good, the RISSE soccer team and some of the RISSE school kids will be spending three days at the Pompanuck Retreat and Farming Center outside of Cambridge, N.Y. Fifteen kids from all over the world will be coming – 14 boys and one man – Ali – and three young women and two women teachers and aides.
The women will sleep in the Round House Building a Pompanuck, the boys will sleep in a big Yurt next to an open pasture.
I am up to my neck in planning – food, classes, activities, things to bring.
Thanks to your donations and generosity – I especially thank one very generous women who chooses to remain anonymous – the kids will be eating well: pancake breakfasts, make-your-own-pizzas, sandwiches, hot dogs and hamburgers, turkey bacon and eggs, campfires at night, hikes in the woods, classes in the daytime.
We’ve given everyone tick instructions. Pompanuck sits on a beautiful 90 acre tract adjoining a state forest. There is a pond for swimming, numerous hiking trails, a wide open field for practicing soccer or running, and beautiful hills all around.
This will be a precious and valuable retreat for these children, I can’t tell you how excited they are. We have raised enough money to pay for this retreat – it will cost about $1,600. Maria will lead one or two hikes out into the woods, she knows them well.
I will be teaching a writing and story-telling class if anyone there wants that. The artist Rachel Barlow will be teaching an art and drawing class (she made the 90 creativity kits we gave these kids earlier this year.) Gordon McQuerry will be teaching a music class to the members of the budding Bedlam Farm Musical Band.
Red, Fate and the new puppy, Gus, will be there. Gus starts working right away.
Mandy Meyer-Hill, a massage therapist and healer, will be teaching a stress and movement class.
I am very excited about this retreat, if any group of children anywhere deserved it, it is these warm and loving kids. They have been through a lot, and deserve some fun and relaxation.
I will be there and will take pictures and write about it, I will make sure you know what your empathy and kindness has done. Ali (Amjad Abdalla Mohammed) will be supervising the kids, along with the teaching aides, and he will be sleeping in the Yurt with them. We are a generous and caring people, I believe these children are coming to see that.
We are doing a lot of things for the RISSE children right now. We are buying new soccer uniforms, raising money so that the team can practice soccer indoors during the winter, funding Saturday excursions and picnics through the summer, raising money for children whose parents can’t afford school fees over the summer.
In a month, 16 of these children will go to the Great Escape Amusement Park, we thank a wonderful spirit from Minnesota for helping make that possible.
I have opened a special bank account to raise money for a scholarship fund for these children to pay for tutoring, English classes, music or art or computer instruction to help them develop their own special skills and interests. There is about $1,500 alreaduy in that account.
We will begin disbursing it in the next few weeks. If you wish to contribute, you can send a check to The Refugee Children’s Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or you can donate through the Paypal Friends And Family Program, my ID is [email protected].
The other RISSE children, the 80 not on the soccer team, have pressing needs as well, I will be writing about them more frequently in the coming weeks and months. A number of them cannot afford to pay the summer tuition fees for RISSE’s summer school, it is important for them to stay within their community and have structured activities. And to stay off the streets.
Many of their families are split up, working several jobs, or have no funds to pay the fees. Their community is their lifeblood, especially now. They need to learn in a safe place, and to be with each other.
This program is critical it provides educational instruction – English, math, art – as well as lunch, dinner, recreational and other activities. It is essential to give these children a start on their journey to American life. Many of you have contributed to a number of different things this year, and my idea is that if a large number of people give small amounts, the pain will be lessened and shared.
it is my idea to do good rather than argue about what is good, and an Army of Good has arisen around this idea.
These children are beginning to experience the real America, the true America, a generous and loving country.
I am going to try to raise the money for these kids to attend summer school, the cost per child is $1,400 for the summer and we are trying to determine just how many are in need of tuition support. Friday, I’m going to Albany in the afternoon to meet with some of them.
If you are so inclined, you can support the RISSE Summer Tuition Program, you can donate directly to RISSE using Paypal and major credit cards here. You can also send the money to me at the Post Office Box or Paypal and I will forward it immediately to RISSE. Please mark your donations Summer Tuition. Thanks. The contributions are tax-deductible. I’ll offer as many details as I can about this campaign in the coming days. The only figure I don’t have yet is the total number of kids who need help. But I wanted to get started, this one is bigger than most and we only have a couple of weeks.
I don’t believe we can raise enough money to pay all of the tuition. RISSE officials tell me that no child will be turned away, they will be admitted to the summer program whether or not their tuition is paid, but that will drain the group’s resources. So I want to raise as much money as we can, without putting pressure on any of you out there.
A lot of small donations go a long way. You can donate to that program here. This is a good and deserving cause, RISSE has struggled for a long time to help people nobody else really wanted to help. It is a great thing to see the support you are already giving them, a long way from last year, when their building was burned to the ground by arsonists.
Blessings upon you.
If you are pressed financially, you can also send RISSE a message of support by donating $1 to them with a note thanking them for their good work and cheering them on. It is good for them to hear it. You can do it here.
