Wally is a 21st Century pup. He is 8 months young, full of wonder and spunk, with a positive and happy life. My voice isn’t raised with him (unless a situation arises where frustration gets the best of me and I clumsily forget to speak assertively and calmly in the moment. Say, when he is pulling, and pulling, and pulling, on the leash to sniff just a bit further up the neighbor’s lawn). He knows a plethora of cues and has enough positively-shaped behaviors for me to assist him into and out of nearly any situation. In my eyes, Wally has not done bad things, instead he has simply been a dog, occasionally performing behaviors that I might not particularly care for, but that I eagerly attempt to understand.
Why does he love to roll and squish his back heavily into the pelican carcass on the beach? Oh, I have theories, but I don’t know for sure. I do perceive that it is a euphoric and incredibly exciting thing for him to do, and so I let him do it, but just for a little while, because I understand that this moment in his life is happy, therefore improving his overall balance in life, creating The 21st Century Pup. For there are many moments when he lay down, patiently waiting for me to do something exciting, like standing up from my computer. Wow. Ooo, okay, now where is she going?… And, ah, if I then say his name, Hooray!, he jumps up in excitement. It seems to be the least I can do to in that moment on the beach, away from the familiar walls of home, to give him a few moments to smear the foul odor onto his body. Thankfully, the odor isn’t quite strong enough for my 5 million scent receptors to make me wince in disgust by the time we end our walk and get back home. But since his sense of smell is so much more engaged, with roughly 200 million scent receptors, the act means much more for my little pup. The memory doesn’t last for him, but it sure does for me. For me, it was pretty cute, and it made Wally happy.
So how do we help our Best Friends to become balanced, and in turn, mentally healthy, stable canines in our 21st Century world? Perhaps with a balanced attitude, a caring approach, and glimpses into the understanding of the canine. Lets see. Pup gives human a lovely walk to the beach without pulling on the leash and looks up from time to time at Human. Human lets pup off-leash at the beach to roll in carcass, run, and let the clear ocean breeze fill Pup’s lungs. Ah, but Human’s lungs are filled, too. And the hearts of both Human and Pup are full, entwined, and happy.
Wally doesn’t have a commander, a leader, or a human-in-charge. Wally has a human, a friend, a buddy, and someone who takes care of him. Wally wants to please. He wants to be a good dog. Have I made it easy enough for him? Am I consistently clear in my communication? There is no doubt for any pup that canines and humans are two different species. Canines don’t have keys to the car, access to the food, cash to buy treats. There is no chance that Wally somehow thinks that he is running the house. Our family’s house belongs to humans and pups, together creating a happy 21st Century family with The 21st Century Pup.
YAPPY PLACE 