Dog whisperings

My riding lesson is canceled this morning, so I decided to take it slow until the front lawn is dry enough to be mowed. I have both the front and back doors open for a cross breeze. I became aware that I was hearing a lot more car doors closing, and a lot more voices outside than I usually do. Then I remembered seeing a sign yesterday, indicating that this weekend there would be a town wide yard sale. A closer look at the activity confirmed that the folks catty corner across the street were participating, and all the unusual noises signaled the arrival of customers.

With the front door open, Hudson and Crow decided that guard duty was in order. After my fifth or sixth coronary event coincided with the sudden eruption of barking, and my "hush," "quiet," and "that's enough, please"'s had escalated in volume and frequency and yet were all ignored, I went to the front door and knelt between the dogs. As new cars arrived, I began to whisper, "Look! Someone else! Who do you think that might be?" As they tensed and alerted, I would say "shhhhh ... let's watch." I had an arm over each of them, around their shoulders, and I realized I was using a slight posture change I could feel through their muscles, an elevation, to cue me as to when to whisper. So, I changed what I was saying to "Leave it. I've got it. It's ok," which is what I say when we're out and about and a dog comes into view (which is not always effective.) No sternness, no increase in volume, just whispered quietly.

Wow. As this went on for about five more minutes, each of them began to just slightly glance at me as a new car would pull up. Using that subtle check-in, I was able to begin whispering my cue to them BEFORE the elevation of the shoulders.

I stayed there watching the action with them, an arm around each of them, laying lightly across their shoulders, not restraining them in any way, until they decided, one at a time, that things had gotten boring. First Crow left. Then Hudson. It was actually a few seconds before I realized I was kneeling alone in my front doorway, watching by myself.

Before they left, we had quietly watched families arrive with small children, one elderly gentleman with a pug, a young couple with a golden, and dozens of pairs of women of all ages.

What did I learn? Wonderful things about timing and checking in. More wonderful things about energy informing energy. And that women, by and large, apparently don't have enough to do except date other women and buy other people's junk.

I am feeling enormously full and peaceful. I highly recommend becoming a Dog Whisperer for real.