A good dog

Hello Everyone,

I once joked with a friend a the dog park that it's unfortunate that dogs can't associate two events if they are separated by much time. His dog would occasionally roll in the rotting carcass of some animal, often a fish. This was a favourite habit of Sophie's as well. They would be immediately put in the bath tub and scrubbed down when they got home, and while both dogs loathed taking baths, they didn't associate them with rolling in stuff.

From the dog's perspective, there was something awesome to roll in at the park, and then some time later, for no reason at all, they were forced to take a bath. There was no causal link. It's unfortunate, because if dogs did understand these things, maybe they would be less inclined to roll in dead fish. They might just roll in the fish anyway and say to hell with your clean, non fish smelling car, but one can hope.

It's also unfortunate because other times, when dogs behave well, it's tough to reward them. If you need them to be good over a longer period of time, any reward would just be associated with the thing they did right before getting the treat. You can't explain that if they are quiet for the next couple of hours, you'll give them a piece of chicken. They would just associate the chicken with sitting in front of you just now.

Today I took Arthur to the vet to get his shots up to date. The vet had me pick him up and put him on a stainless steel table, which would make most people nervous, let alone a dog. He then gave him a quick exam, then jabbed him with a bunch of needles. Throughout it all, Arthur was the picture of calm. You could tell that he wasn't enjoying his time there, but didn't put up a fuss.

Later, my father, brother, and I went up to Whistler to do a bit of yard work at the cabin. I brought Arthur with me, but was worried about what he would be like while we raked out the gravel of the driveway and picked up around the yard. Again, Arthur was great. He wandered around a little bit, chewed a few sticks, but mostly just hung out on the deck. It made things a lot easier for us.

We communicate pretty well, he and I, but this runs into the limits of our dialogue. I can't explain to him that it was really great that he was so calm at the vet and quiet at the cabin, any more than I could explain to him that rolling in a dead fish will result in a bath. Not that he would do that kind of thing, he's not some disreputable poodle after all.

wes