Archive for October, 2009
Teaching dogs mindfulness video
I was at a professional conference last weekend – a conference for my other profession. There I met some wonderful people. One woman in particular really cracked me up. I love how I can meet someone I totally click with in such a random way. Some of the conversation we had involved her mistaking me for the mayor of my small town – you get the picture.
Anyway, she has two lovely dogs to whom she tried to teach mindfulness. Mindfulness, for those of you who don’t know, involves the intense focus on one thing that is happening right now and inhabiting the experience of it completely. She showed me a video of her trying to teach her dogs mindfulness, and at first it seemed she was unsuccessful – the dogs nearly took her fingers off trying to eat the food. However, as I watched the video again I saw how the dogs are totally focused on her and the fruit – completely in the moment. For us, we tend to teach mindfulness through sensations, the feeling of the coolness in the mouth, the texture of the fruit, the sweetness and the liquid sensations as they explode on the tongue…the dogs could care less about that. But notice how they completely inhabit the experience of consuming the food. They are completely mindful in those brief moments of inhaling the fruit. So, who knows, was it a success or a failure? Either way, I loved the video. Enjoy.
Teaching Dog Mindfulness video (requires Quicktime)
For every dog there is a perfect home
Remember Chloe? She had quite a time this summer. I am happy to report that she seems to be doing really well in her new home. It just shows you that for every dog there is the perfect home. I hope that we’ll have a chance to see her soon when we have our reunion for her pups…sometime in November. Here’s the update:
Things are going very well with Chloe. My Mom and I are taking her to school at PetSmart on Saturdays for an 8 week beginner class. She has adjusted quit well and is learning quickly. She seems happy and full of energy at home, but is still a little shy around other people. She is making progress though! We continue to walk her for 30 to 45 minutes each day or Mom plays ball with her in the basement. She loves that! We continue to work on the separation and leaving her for short periods of time. When both of my parents leave, Chloe still barks, howls, but for shorter periods of time now than when they first began leaving her for the practice sessions. She does settle down after a while and goes to the window to watch for them. She doesn’t destroy anything, or try to get out. I think she is just calling for “her pack”! They are up to leaving for 30 minutes. They do that once a day now. She is really excited when they come back. We would love to come to the family reunion. I would love to see her puppies. Let us know the time and
place and thanks for the invitation!R-
An update on Rubi
Here is an update with photos on Rubi (formerly known as Red from Willow‘s litter)
Rubi is doing really great. We started puppy classes a couple weeks ago so she can get over her apprehension of dogs. She did surprisingly well and we hope it keeps improving. Her nipping is our biggest issue now. We are trying time-outs, but that doesn’t always work. Other than that, she has all her commands down most of the time and we’re just practicing them with distractions. She loves to cuddle and loves to play with her soft toys. Here’s a few pictures at 13 weeks.
-E- & D-
