I just might be a good pet parent after all.
Wayne’s always telling me what a great mom I am to our kids. As much as I want to believe him, I always sense he has an underlying commitment to say such things. Sort of how he wouldn’t dare tell me my butt looks fat in certain clothing because he wants to spare my feelings. (As a side note, he is a good husband because he also doesn’t let me go out of the house in anything emphasizing my large bottom. He’ll save me by delicately asking if maybe another pair of pants or a skirt would look better with whatever top I’ve got on, or something to that effect. It’s nice to have that in a husband!)
Anyway…back to my pet parenting skills. Wayne’s not the only one who regularly gives me thumbs up in the pet rearing department. So do friends and neighbors. They often compliment me on how well-behaved, sweet, and gentle Murphy is. Except, I always chalk that up to Murph’s credit, not my own. He is a sweet a dog. Was from day one. Sure, in his early years he was full of puppy power and even a few puppy pranks, but overall he’s always listened and learned incredibly fast.
Except, as we watched ABC’s 20/20 last Friday, John Stossel did a piece featuring Tamar Geller, dog trainer to the stars and author of The Loved Dog, I realized her techniques are ones I regularly employ with my own pets.
“I don’t believe in anyone who is in a relationship with anybody, whether it’s a dog, whether it’s a child, anybody, that submission needs to be a part of it. I actually believe in the opposite. I believe in happiness, in joy, in empowerment.” ~Tamar Geller
Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, has been the latest craze in doggie discipline, but I’ve never liked his approach. I respected him more after reading part of his book and learning how much he loves dogs, especially the ones society shuns, but I just never could get into his take on training.
Geller, however, is my kind of gal. Stossel asked her how she felt about Cesar Millan and she was pretty frank about stating she didn’t much care for his “break their spirit, show them who’s boss” approach either. She saw too much of that during her years in the Israeli Air Force where she saw dogs being trained for military duty via abusive techniques.
She’s all about making learning fun and making the dogs enjoy whatever it is she wants to teach them to do. She prefers using games to accomplish this.
Take John Stossel for instance. His dog Luca wouldn’t answer when called. So Geller had him play a game of hide and seek in his house, away from distractions. Stossel would hide in different places, call Luca’s name to have him come find him, and when he did he’d get rewarded.
Guess what? Luca learned to come when called, as evidenced when he accidentally got away from them when they were in the park and they had to call him. When that had happened before, he never answered. This time he did.
After the program, Wayne looked at me and said, “See? You could be a trainer to the stars. You do this all the time with our kids.”
It’s true. That is how I train them. I make it fun. I’ve never had to show them who’s boss with force to get them to listen to me. I’ve always just used love, laughter and lots of praise.
Hmmm…so maybe Wayne was right after all and I am a good pet mom. However, I still think most of the credit goes to Murphy, Tabby, and Kitty. After all, they’re smart about telling me what it is they need from me. All I do is listen.
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