I believe, as humans, we would all do much better if we remembered we belong in the animal kingdom. All life is miraculous and, no, it does not require the belief in a higher being to know this. Actually, we are the higher being if you connect the dots. Our dogs are as soulful as we are.

Principals for training

First, when I train I must be patient and positive. I must show my dog exactly what the task is while providing positive reinforcement. Sometimes this is done through shaping which means I wait until the dog displays the behavior and then reward her. I might be waiting awhile. During that wait time I continue to smile and be positive. With humans, this means catching children or adults doing great things and then telling them so.
Next, I need to make sure I am clear about what I want. If I want a sit then I wait for it and reward. If my dog does a down I must wait for a sit. I don’t put a word to it until she offers the behavior quickly and even after a command is put to the behavior, I must not assume this means she knows it. How much slack do we allow our human companions when learning a new task?

Each Dog has a Lesson for You

In December I lost Garnet, my beloved 12 year old German Shepherd. She was a patient kind animal who loved all of the dogs in our pack and all of the humans. She hated it when I helped her. I used a towel under her tummy to assist her going up and down the stairs. I also had to monitor how she drank water in her old age as she had a deep, barrel chest and would often drink so fast that she'd throw up. There was a chance that she could flip her stomach which would mean death for an old dog like her.
I took care of her and monitored, but often I would feel irritated and angry, cursing the care I gave her. When that final day arrived and I knew she was suffering terribly with kidney failure I took her to the emergency vet. It all happened on a weekend so I had no time to plan to have my friend come and help her ease out of this life like I usually did.
I sat on the examining room floor with her head in my lap and fed her cookies and told her how much I loved her. I sobbed and tears and snot ran together down my face. My two daughters just handed me tissue to sop it up.
I thought back on my life with her. Garnet was beyond loyal. Her love was overkill. If I went away for a few days she'd lie by the gate if my daughter put her outside. If she was inside she'd lie by the door. When I was home she followed me into every room. Have you ever tried sharing a tiny bathroom with two German Shepherds? Well, I learned to use the time spent on the toilet as an opportunity to share a good ear or tummy scratch.
Garnet was obedience trained, but she hated to show because I was always a nervous zombie when I went in the ring. She always wanted to leave the ring and go home.
What did I learn from her? When someone loves you embrace it. I wondered many times what she saw in me, but apparently she saw beauty beyond anything else on earth. I am grateful that another sentient being found me to be so wonderful. I learned that to help one through old age takes grace and self reflection. It makes one face their anger and frustration and understand how useless it really is.
I miss you Garnet.