Contact, Dominance

Kathy is reading bunches of books on dogs recently. Some of it is openly as a way of mourning Oz. Other books, though, are on things like dog training, and, specifically, on adopting dogs.

I've dipped into a few of them, and will be looking at more, and have been stunned by what I've learned, and, again, by how fortunate we were. For example, while many of the books suggest patting or stroking your dog as part of a reward and reinforcement, one book noted that contact wasn't a natural thing for dogs, and they had to learn it.

Huh. I never would have known that. Oz was, among other things, often in contact with us. Oh, she liked sitting in the sun, and rolling in the grass, and digging in the dirt—but she loved being in contact with us as well. In fact, when she slept under my desk, she often made sure she had some tiny part in contact—her muzzle on my toes, one paw on one ankle, etc.

I was also struck by the frequent mentions of pack leader issues: who will lead, you or your dog? What often seemed to be the case with Oz was a mutuality: let's go here!

Greg