Joy Meter

I am playing our usual game of tug; whippet and ball retrieve with Deuce and Rio. This combo has become one of our standard games that we play on certain mornings.

The dogs being keen on any visual cue that we are heading to the “soccer-field” begin to jump and run giddy. In the meantime, I take my time trying to gather all that is needed for our little interaction: sunglasses, tissues (bad allergies :( ) hat, water bottle, tug toy, whippet and the big orange ball. The dogs are in their position waiting. Waiting for it all to begin.

As I send my first ball out to Deuce and make the whippet toy come alive, I sense myself smiling BIG. My thoughts turn to how much fun the three of us are having! I call experiences (and awareness) like this [my] joy meter. Not only am I happy to see them happy, it goes beyond that: I am feeling JOY!

I am very interested in pretty much anything that pertains to the brain and the nervous system and because of that I try and read about these two topics on a regular basis.

One of the things that I have learned via different sources is that our brain is “wired” for unpleasant events, fear related events and that we MUST make a conscientious choice of allowing our brain to register positive experiences. The more our brain is “trained” to integrate positive experiences the greater the possibility for making everlasting changes in their neurology. When these changes take place within our brains, we are able to feel more joy… it sounds as if we are bypassing the pre-installed wiring of our brains.

So I am on a mission here: As recommended I stop and make myself express out loud in gratitude for all what is good in my life and life in general. This simple recognition (according to some of my sources is necessary to spend around 5 to 20 sec.

reminiscing with as much detail as possible on the positive experience) so that the experience truly sinks into our “fleshy-brain”.

So, I have carved moments where I take the time to do this: my early drive to boot camp - dawn breaking, late afternoon or dusk, as I watch the day end and when I am playing with my dogs.

I can describe my feelings of joy in quite a few ways, but a salient one is feeling a sense of “balance”- of all being just right! And this leaves me feeling that I need nothing more. As I toss the ball to Deuce I literally feel a warm sensation. Rio is running full blast towards me - sometimes with the tug toy hanging funny from her mouth. Indeed, the joy meter is rising…

There are indeed other instances where my dogs bring me great joy. The trick for me is to pay attention to our everyday interactions as well as them acting just like dogs. I really enjoy seeing how they are individual beings with specific likes and dislikes. I take note of these as well as any diversion from what I consider to be Deuce’s ways or Rio’s.

For example, very rarely will Deuce lie down to sunbathe himself while Rio… but the other day, Deuce was outside in the sun chewing his marrowbone with gusto and Rio surprised me with wanting to go hang out in her crate to chew her own bone in privacy!

I thought I would never live to see this.

As best I can, I try and honor their differences and my self-imposed commitment to treating them as individuals brings me once again great satisfaction or shall I say joy?

Flowcharts

It is early evening and the pups are happily chewing on their bully sticks; dessert in my household. Sometimes Rio walks around carrying her bully stick cigar style, while Deuce without fail, lays down in exactly the same spot in the living room and chews away.

Rio always finishes hers first and I take note that she always gets the bigger one since she is such an active chewer.

While they are busy, I am stretching  in the living room. I notice that Rio is wandering around waiting, just waiting for Deuce to “abandon” his bully stick so that she can pounce on it and consume it. As I am watching her, she begins to “alert” bark: Deuce, there is someone, come see there is someone out there….

Deuce (who had just finished his bully stick) but was still laying down in the same spot, runs to the window facing the front of the house when I notice Rio running to where Deuce was lying previously chewing. I laugh to myself: Rio always masterminding something and Deuce falling for her tricks. This same scenario has happened before: Rio barking as IF there was someone and Deuce joining her at the window only to have Rio abandon the window in pursuit of Deuce’s half-eaten marrow bone or Kong.

Dogs are masters at flowcharts! They have an amazing ability to string antecedents to consequences. Being this, one of the main ways by which they learn.

Here is another example of Rioja figuring out the flowchart: When I have clients coming to train at C.H.A.C.O.'s HUB – also my home, both dogs are in their crates with stuffed Kongs and a chew bone. I wanted them out of the way and quiet.

Once my client is gone, I come to let them out so they can resume going in and out of the doggy door and if I am around an exploratory trip to the front area where they get to sniff to their heart’s content the scent left by my client’s dog.

When I come into my office to let them out, Rio can’t wait to get out of the crate! I ask her to exercise some self-control and lay down before I open the crate’s door. She then darts off barking her head off towards the front door wanting to be let out “i-meediia-te-ly”. More waiting at the door, before I release both of them to go investigate.

Minutes later they come back home once again disappointed that once again they just missed the dog…

On one occasion, when no clients where coming, I put them in their crates while I was hanging around the house. When it came time to let them out, Rio dashed again to the front door as if a client had been here. Wow! I thought she is getting the flowchart… a case of dog being smarter than owner … I let her out wanting her to find out that on this occasion there was no scents to trace, no missed visit to regret.

Since the whole point of having them in their crates is for them to be quiet when I am working with someone else’s dog, I began to put them in their crates when no one was coming – as if to prove to Rio that not because I ask them to go in their crates with super “goodies” does it mean a client is here.

The fact that our dog’s brains are wired to follow flowcharts with such finesse is very handy for us when teaching the dog something we want them to learn. It is all about the presentation of a consequence after the dog’s behavior.

If timed properly, literally seconds after the behavior has occurred and depending on the consequence, our dogs will learn to either continue to engage more often in that behavior or to refrain from engaging in it. An interesting fact is that just like our dogs, other vertebrates and invertebrates are capable of learning by consequences. Including ancient planaria, a type of flatworm.

Once my clients “discover” that their dog will work for consequences a new door of possibilities opens for them… as they become aware that their dog too is subjected to the laws of learning.