Perfection

I put out a good bit about my dogs, what all we do and their successes. I’ve realized I don’t share enough about our challenges and failures. Things don’t always go to plan and my dogs don’t always do what I expect or think they will do.

We just completed a great road trip from Washington down to Southern California and back. The trip was about human stuff and not the dogs, but the dogs still went with me. The reason for bringing the dogs was both for their training, but also for my own. When I travel for the dogs and the schedule and reason for travel is centered on them, it is fairly easy to manage them and meet their needs. When I bring them along on other trips, I learn a lot about what they need and how to meet those needs, while other things are my central focus. On the other side of it, the dogs learn important lessons too. Mostly I gain valuable insight into what I haven’t taught them or maintained in their training.

Our first night on the road, we stayed with friends on their amazing property. It is a terrier heaven. They have several dog secure areas and they have some great open land that is filled with all sorts of quarry and distractions. I allowed my dogs time to run around in both the secured and not secured spaces. They did good, coming when asked and sticking reasonably close. They didn’t sleep great – and so neither did I – because there were just too many exciting smells outside the window. First night on a trip is always a challenge for all of us and I realized I needed to make sure to allow for more breaks/exercise throughout the day.

The next day was a very long day, lasting close to 14 hours. We took frequent breaks and had good exercise, but at the end of that day we all wanted nothing more than to be free from the vehicle. Arriving at our destination, they were a little wound up and to be honest so was I. On top of that, our hosts were very happy to see us and so that added to the energy. I worked to figure out what the routine for us would be, but realized I probably should have sorted it out before arriving. We got through the first night, but again we didn’t necessarily get our best sleep or behave the way any of us wanted.

Tilly wanted to play with the cats. We have a cat at home who plays with her. These cats did not know or understand this. The dogs and these cats have met before, but it has been a little bit and there was a lot of excitement that first time around – needless to say there was even more this time. Tilly grows thumbs in the night sometimes… she got the door to our accommodation open and the door to the cats was also open. There were humans awakened, cats terrorized and screaming by everyone. No cats were hurt – thank goodness Tilly doesn’t want to hurt them. She just wants them to run. But when you have a dog that hunts, that drive can change at any moment and it can go from being harmless to not harmless before you know it. Plus these poor cats live a lovely, quiet and posh Southern California life. I’m sure I’ve been removed from their Christmas card list.

I made adjustments. Secured our space. Went back to sleep. She got out again and tormented the second cat this time. Lesson learned and management plan adjusted. The remainder of our visit left the cats relatively in peace.

At one of the sites where I was doing the work that the trip was for, I decided the dogs deserved a break from being cooped up. I surveyed the environment, deemed it safe and let the dogs free to have a little run around time. Normally this goes without incident, the dogs exercise, sniff and explore within reason and then return to their travel crates. Not this time. Hamish behaved as expected (he has significantly more experience than Tilly) and while not perfect – required a little more work than normal to get him back in his crate – was compliant. Tilly was not. She found a very exciting opportunity and took advantage before I was even aware. This fully falls on me. My focus wasn’t 100% on the dogs, I trusted my cursory assessment more than I should have and mostly I got lazy. The dogs immediately picked up on that.

Tilly entered a utility facility that clearly didn’t want anyone entering. Of course the man sized hole in the fence provided proof that neither Tilly nor I were the first to breach this sanctum and so I felt my risks of arrest were low enough that I could go and retrieve my dog. Once I crossed the physical barrier of pipes that had flummoxed Tilly into believing she couldn’t return to me, she immediately came when called and was happy to be carried from that place. While her problem solving skills couldn’t get her back to me, our foundational training kept her close enough that I could get her back.

On our trip back north, we stopped and stayed another night with our friends with the amazing property. Familiarity breeds contempt and so when given freedom during this second stay, both dogs weren’t as compliant as I would expect. Again, Hamish was more easily reigned in, but Tilly went on a full bender as her hunting instincts overtook all else and she was off after whatever had caught her nose.

Now the worst thing to do in this situation is panic or rush. I got coffee – it was early – and began asking questions. Any known animal dens on the property? How far to their property boundaries? Any known neighbor issues – i.e. anyone going to shoot my dog on sight? Knowledge and coffee on board and proper footwear, I prepare to head out and start a search grid. She ran up to the gate just as I was heading out, eliminating the need for a search. Whatever she had trailed must have petered out along the way and she retraced her steps back. Again, foundation skills kicked in and so an ugly and scary situation resolved itself. Needless to say, both dogs enjoyed much less freedom for the remainder of our stay.

Some will take my message and use it to confirm that these dogs should never have choice or freedom and should always be confined and contained. Others will have opinions about what should or shouldn’t have been done. At the end of the day, I want people to see that even dogs that seem proofed or perfect, have situations where they may do something unexpected or unplanned and only through clear foundational training is it safe to take these risks.

For some, no amount of training makes what I do acceptable for them. That’s completely okay. I never advocate that you do something with your dog that you aren’t 100% comfortable with. Just be very clear that the limitation is you and not your dog. At the end of the day, I’ve walked away from this trip with things I need to work on, reinforce and even train. I wouldn’t know they were needed if I didn’t take these opportunities to see what my dogs do and don’t know.