You would think, after being with darling girl Tawny for 14 years, I would have run out of mistakes to make with her by now.
You would think.
Today I stand before her, head hanging, with the realization that I have made the mistakiest mistake there is, and I have been making it for years. It is this: underestimating my dog.
How? By repeatedly telling people she is not the brightest bulb in the lighthouse; not saying she’s dumb, but she’s no border collie, knowwhatImean?
So. Totally. Wrong.
What she is, is sensitive and resilient. Picks up on every shade of mood I have and adjusts. Puts up with all my crap with a wag of the tail and and patient “when’s dinner” check-ins followed by “okay not yet, returning to nap” sighs. And sometimes, because of how I’m acting, she stops reacting altogether. Which makes her…a lot smarter than I am.
This is what she has learned/accomplished in 14 years with me:
• Gone from rocket on leash to best walker on planet
• Gone from most reactive dog on planet to completely manageable
• Gone from largely unsafe around people to completely safe
• Gone from would not go out when drizzling/could not be bathed to goes out in thunderstorms and totally bathable
• Gone from noise-phobic to who cares (before hearing loss of course)
• Stopped door dashing, jumping, mouthing, destroying my belongings, anxious when I left, snapping at people, unable to be bathed, unable to be contained, humping, stealing, guarding her bed
• As my “test subject” helped me develop all the kind techniques I use today including no less than 7 iterations of walking (along the way putting up with all manner of newbie-trainer screw-ups)
• Learned brand-new things like Trickility (Tricks + Agility) and different training techniques I experimented with over the years
• Adjusted to numerous equipment changes and experimentations
• After losing most of her hearing learned a plethora of hand signals and other new ways to communicate non-verbally
• Acted in nearly all my videos (making surprise cameos as well — big surprise that I have a video ham)
• …and more I am sure I’m forgetting.
So who’s the dimbulb for underestimating her?
Today I stand before Tawny, head hanging. But also, I stand resolved to never make that mistake again. I’ll find a new one instead. And Tawny, just like always, will give me that funny look, wag her tail and roll with it. Because she is brilliant.
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