Dekker returns to sharing wisdom
(Dekker returns with his wisdom!)
Woof! For the last three months, I have been sharing my stories of becoming a service dog. If you have missed any of these you will find them by going HERE.
I have received wonderful comments and I thank everyone…and yes, I get a piece of kibble for each comment! Please don’t stop!
Some people have asked if I am going to continue giving my advice to humans. I guess they prefer dog wisdom to their own, which I don’t understand because I think every creature has different ways of being smart.
Take the two cats who live with us for example. One has chosen to behave like a regular cat, cuddling, purring, and occasionally chasing feathered toys.
The other thinks he is caretaker, landlord, doorman, and well, basically lord of the mansion where we all live. His personal calling in this life is to be the first through any door.
I think he is checking if it is safe for our humans to go through. At least that would be my reason. I am always concerned about my person.
But this guy? Well, I think I understand people better than cats.
So, here are a few questions I have been receiving lately. If you have something you would like my furry opinion on, leave it in the comments below and I’ll see what I can do.
Dear Dekker,
It sounds like you had a very special time in prison with your person there. Did you get lonely when you graduated and had to leave to be a working dog?
Sally
Woof woof, Sally – I am not sure I understand loneliness. Is it like an empty space in your nose? I have several of those. Let me explain.
There was Randy at the prison and Susan and her family on the weekend. Each person I have met and loved has a special smell, but smells don’t last very long in my nose.
My person that I am with now has her very own smell. I like it because I can always find her no matter where she is.
I can also tell when she isn’t feeling well. She smells different then.
I guess you would call it loneliness if I could still smell Randy or Susan— but there isn’t a hint of them anywhere. This leaves me free to experience my new person with everything I am.
It’s not that I don’t remember Randy and Susan. It’s that I live so much in the present moment, and there is so much to take in: smells, sights, even feelings of people around me, I feel very full.
If your loneliness is the only thing you feel, perhaps you need to add a few new smells to your life.
Dear Dekker,
Do you ever have a weight problem? I have many pounds I need to lose and it is so hard!! I love to eat. Especially cookies and chocolate. Why do people create such tempting goodies when they make so many of us fat and unhealthy?
Thank you, Wallowing Walter
Woof woof, Walter.
Funny you should mention that. My person is always getting me weighed. She says she has to report to the people who trained me, and if I am overweight I cannot get a new jacket.
They are stressed by an extra two pounds! There are two things that help me with weight. I can’t dish out my own food and I get to go for more walks.
Does anyone else feed you or do you fetch your own meals? That would be tough!
One thing that keeps me from feeding myself is a tight lid on the kibble crock. Maybe that would help?
And anytime you want to take me for a walk I would love it. We could both lose a pound or two.
If you don’t live near me, can you find a pup who needs to be walked in your neighborhood?
Or at the shelter? You don’t need to live with a dog to take him for a walk! Good luck and let me know if you found something that works.
Dear Dekker,
When I go out for a walk many people are walking their dogs. Some dogs walk beside their people, but most are pulling their owners down the street as if they aren’t moving fast enough.
Do dogs expect to run ALL the time? And sometimes they scare me. I don’t have a dog and this is one of the reasons why.
Thanks, Dottie
Dear Dottie,
I don’t blame you for feeling scared when a dog is pulling and barking. I sometimes wonder if the leash is on backward so that the dog is walking his person.
I have never known a dog who isn’t happy to go at whatever pace his owner is walking once he discovers the joy of it.
But the joy of a dog is up to the owner.
I seldom see dogs walking their people who are getting praised or even a piece of kibble for not pulling.
I really can’t tell what the owner is getting out of it…except a lot of exercise.
I bet if you had a dog you would soon teach him to walk slow and keep his eye on you…or at least on the hand that holds the kibble.
Some people need to go to a training school for a long time to learn which end of the leash to attach to a dog.
If you ever do get a dog, please get some training until you are more comfortable, because if you are scared your dog will smell it.
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