T I D B I T S     A N D      I N S P I R A T I O N S

Things We Can Learn From A Dog

1. Never pass up an opportunity to go for a joy ride.
2. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
3. When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
4. When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
5. Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
6. Run, romp, and play daily.
7. Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
8. Be loyal.
9. Never pretend to be something you're not.
10. If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
11. When someone else is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
12. Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
13. Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
14. On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.
15. When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
16. No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends.
17. Delight in the simple job of a long walk.

I was unable to attend the Alaskan Klee Kai Picnic held at the Gregory residence in Colorado in 1998. I sent the following to be read in my absence.

Eileen asked me to write a speech for the Alaskan Klee Kai Reunion since I would be unable to attend this year. I thought about this, and couldn't decide what to say. You all know I am not there. You all know I would love to be there. But that's not what is important. What is important is that we
are all united by the love we share in our dogs. What the breed of dog is doesn't even really matter. When you walk into a room full of people with their dogs, you immediately know you have something in common with them. Dog hair....vet bills...and most of all you each probably share the feeling that life in your home is pretty much centered around your dog! But this may be only an illusion. Actually your dog's life is centered around you. You are the most important object in your dog's existence. You may think the neighbor's cat, or the garbage, or the mailman holds a much stronger interest for your little barking buddy, but I have news for you, my friend.You're it! Whether or not you give yourself credit, you are your dog's whole reason for existence.

No matter what your belief system is, you most likely believe that there is a higher power above you. Whether you worship God, or trees, or money, you probably have something that you consider sacred and will go to great lengths to show respect for. It is said that in the beginning, after days of
creating the wonders that we take for granted every day, on the 7th day He rested. Look down beside you. How often do you sit down to rest without that familiar furry face looking up adoringly at you? Not very often, right? Your dog is always there for you, through thick and thin, through feast and famine. Your loved one may leave you, your children may outgrow you, your bank may decide it needs your home more than you do. But your dog will always be there for you. If your dog is not there for you, it is likely that it is by your own choosing. Humans abandon dogs. Dogs never abandon their humans.

It is said that God created the animals and then Adam named them. Have you ever noticed that GOD spelled backwards, is DOG? Perhaps there is a reason for this. We often grow discontented with ourselves and turn away from the things that matter most. We become caught up in work, and life, and love, and we forget the things that are really most important in our lives. If you
didn't have your furry friend there to love and comfort you, and to unconditionally forgive you for your errors, what kind of a life would this be? Perhaps Adam chose this name as a reminder for us that these qualities that we consider so god-like are within our grasp after all. When you feel a
warm nose nudge your hand, look into those trusting eyes that reflect love back at you. God IS love. Whether you spell it forwards or backwards.

Think about what sort of a world this would be if it were run by dogs. There would be great tail wagging and rejoicing! Each day would be a new miracle! The things that we take for granted are wondrous to a dog. A old broken stick can be the most incredible toy if it is thrown from the hand of
their master. The same old dry dog food is like caviar to a dog if served one piece at a time from the one they love. The thoughts of a car ride can excite a dog to no end even if it is only to the corner grocery store if his master comes along too. And to be allowed to go for a walk in the great
outdoors, rain or shine, can bring on bounces of pure joy if it is at the side of their favorite human! But the greatest pleasure of all is simply to be allowed to lie at the feet of the one they love most. (Or on their lap.) If only people could allow themselves to enjoy such simple pleasures! The only sadness dogs ever seem to show is when their humans betray their trust. When the one whose existence is the center of their very world ignores them or speaks harshly to them, or strikes them for something they didn't understand, life loses its meaning! I have heard it said, "Ahhh, if only dogs could talk." Well if dogs could talk, they certainly wouldn't be man's best friend. They just might tell us the things we don't want to admit about ourselves. But fortunately dogs cannot, or choose not, to point out
our shortcomings. They just love us unconditionally. Perhaps its time we returned the favor.

And as for the Creator resting on the seventh day..... well I bet I know who was curled up at his feet. - Linda S. Spurlin 08/07/98

P U P T A L K    f r o m    t h e    A K K    N E W S L E T T E R

LOVE - The Universal Language

In the last training article I wrote for the newsletter I emphasized that if you are in doubt about who is in charge, then rest assured that it isn't you! When there are 'too many chiefs and not enough Indians', things get confusing. And the confused do not make good leaders! Therefore if you are
now prepared to be the fearless leader, the next step is to find a common language. This may sound simple, but it isn't always. Just because you are bigger and can yell louder doesn't always make you right. Worse yet, those that are smaller and are being yelled at are probably too confused to think
straight! After all, your dog wants to please you, but if he doesn't know what you want, it gets pretty difficult. At its most simple level, the language barrier can be a matter of words. As many of you know, one of my children has a number of disabilities. Many years ago during one of the school's various intelligence tests, the tester informed me that my son didn't even know what a trash can was. I found this really hard to believe considering that he put various items in it regularly. Then I realized that in our family it was called a garbage can! Those with a limited vocabulary can easily be confused when the item in question keeps getting re-named! Your dog is in the same situation. A good example of the language confusion in dogs is the simple command to lay down. I'll bet you have all either seen this happen or done it yourselves and never gave it a second thought. When I teach a dog to lie down, I hold a piece of doggy cookie tightly in my fingers and lower it to the floor and say the word "down". I do not touch the dog. Eventually the dog will lie down in order to reach the treat
easier. Then I turn on my happy voice and praise him and give him the treat. It doesn't take long before the sight of my hand going downward is the signal for the dog to lie down. And all without ever touching him, except to pet him as a reward. So now the dog knows a new word and hand
signal. "Down". And he is pleased because I am pleased. Then we go out in public where I am nervous that my dog will make a fool of me, and in my nervousness I say "LIE Down". Now I have confused the issue. Now he hears a different command. It may sound the same to you who knows the English language, but to the dog who learned a one syllable command, now two words are another story. So he gets confused and I get mad and never even realize it was all my fault! Then he gets apologetic and jumps on me to see if I still love him and I scream "Down" and now he is really confused, because he suspects I really meant "Off", but since I said "Down" he lies down, and then I get even madder because that's what I wanted him to do five minutes ago! Dogs react to their training. People react to the moment. And in this moment, I am the idiot with frazzled nerves who thinks I have a stupid dog, when in reality the dog obeyed correctly and I was too upset to notice that my choice of words were the problem, and not the dog.

Another common language problem is 'body language'. Picture the Saturday morning cartoons. The villain raises up to full height, chest expanding, his arms raise and he attacks. He invokes fear by making himself appear larger. His victim does the opposite. He physically demonstrates this by
shrinking down to a smaller size to show that he is not a threat in return. Dogs do just about the same thing. When a dog gets angry, he stiffens, his shoulders rise up, his hair stands up on his shoulders and along his back, and he stares his opponent directly in the eye. Think about it. When your dog does some minor infraction like getting up when you told him to sit, you probably do the same thing. You stiffen up and stare at him, you take a deep breath which causes your shoulders to raise and you to enlarge in appearance. The dog sees this and immediately lowers his body to a
non-threatening posture and avoids eye contact. He is trying desperately to tell you in the universal body language of "Dogspeak" that he doesn't want to fight! And you probably misunderstand his show of submissiveness for feelings of guilt! He isn't feeling guilty, he is just trying to avoid a
confrontation with the anger your body language suggests is en route. Many people inadvertently do nearly the same thing when they walk their dogs on a leash and a strange dog comes close. They pull up on the leash to try to get their dog to come closer to them in the hopes they can protect it
from the oncoming dog. What they have unwittingly done is pulled the dog's shoulders up and made it look to the other dog like he was threatening them! If you would either make your dog lie down when other dogs come by, or at least pull the leash in a downward movement as you turn the dog away from the on coming strange dog so as to force them to avoid eye contact, walks in the park might be a lot safer! Remember this too, when the 'monster dog from hell' comes charging down a
driveway at you. When you raise up to full height as you gasp in panic and stare at him to mentally measure the size of those massive jaws, you may not be aware that in "Dogspeak" you are acknowledging his challenge, but you are. Lower your shoulders and don't look him in the eye. It just may convince him you wouldn't be enough of a worthy opponent to bother with. And last, but by far not the least, think back to your school days. Remember the teacher that was so much fun that you didn't even know you were learning at the same time? Will you ever be able to forget that "thirty days hath September" or the HOMES on the Great Lakes named Heron, Ontario,
Michigan, Erie and Superior? The teacher whose praise sang in your ears and made you try twice as hard the next time? On the other hand you probably recall the dead drone of a boring teacher whose class was the quite the opposite. The teacher you could never please. The teacher whose class you
don't remember much about because you were never mentally there. The teacher who couldn't even have made sex education interesting. In the training game where you are the teacher and your dog is the student, try to remember what you liked about your favorite teacher. Was it her calmness, her humor, her praise, her upbeat attitude? All of the above? I started getting a much better performance out of one of my dogs when I stopped giving her cookies as a reward and started throwing a tennis ball instead! I also learned that for her, half a dozen 30 second training sessions a day work much better than two ten minute ones. And cooking time in our house is a fun training time. The kitchen smells wonderful, I can't leave the room, and every time I turn back to the stove to stir something, she gets a little free time. Do what works for you and you may both be richly rewarded! But the most important thing of all, the feeling that doesn't even need a word, the timeless energy that mankind will kill for, cry for, die for, live for, is also the same feeling for your dog. They say that love conquers all, covers a multitude of sins, and makes a poor man feel rich. Love can build you up, or tear you down. Real love is eternal and will never fail you. Your dog is a barely contained energy field of pure undaunted love. Your boss may fire you, your mother may criticize you, the world may rain on your parade and your lover may leave you, but your dog will always be there for you. Don't fail the one who loves you the most. -  Linda S. Spurlin

FROM DICK BOWMAN IN NORTH DAKOTA:

He said he was at a meeting with a bunch of veterinarians and cattlemen and he was telling them about his dog. One old guy told him that he had a great dog a long time ago that would go out every night and bring in his seven milk cows. No matter where they were out in the pasture the dog would find them and bring them to the barn.

One day he hauled one of the old cows to the sale. The next night, when the dog went out to the pasture, he didn't come in. That dog stayed out there for days and days. He finally had to take the bill of sale out to the pasture before the dog would stop looking for that cow! Sure is hard to find
that kind of dog any more.