I See Dead People

While I rarely shy away from expressing what I think, I tend to avoid being overtly political because a blog is not a dialog and therefore not conducive to productive political discourse.

And further, this is a blog about dogs — sort of.

Okay — sometimes.

But I find the Political and the Canine have now converged because of one tiny virus.

My true feelings about the current administration’s handling of the pandemic...

The lies spewing from the White House are literally killing human beings. That is not hyperbole.

By telling people to go on with their usual lives, that the virus is contained and so on and so forth — I have no words for all that nonsense. Luckily, there is an emoji for everything.

And to say coronavirus and hoax in the same sentence?!

Okay, regardless of whether you support the current president or not, we know he struggles with the truth — and if this is news to you, start watching more than Fox.

FYI — you can still think he is the Messiah and acknowledge the man is a pathological liar — knowing someone’s limitations is an important adulting skill that may — in this situation — LITERALLY save lives.

So we cannot look to the president or his minions for guidance or information because we cannot and should not trust that information.

Luckily, most state and local leaders of all political stripes are stepping up (with the possible exception of the Bozo Governor of Oklahoma) and they are canceling events, closing schools, and doing what they can to encourage people to help flatten the curve.

The CDC is also trying hard to regain/retain credibility, depending on how you see things, and has issued a recommendation that all events of 50 or more people be canceled for the next eight weeks in the US.

Let’s not split fur, people. If the event is a bunch of humans in a room — even if the room is big enough for social distancing and the number is 48 and not 50 — do the responsible thing and CANCEL IT.

And here is where the Canine and the Political merge.

Any dog group that fails to cancel events that clump humans together in a room, no matter how large that room, at any point in the next eight weeks is run by irresponsible (and a bunch of other unflattering adjectives that I just deleted) persons — and nobody should support said organization or event.

No excuses. No delays. No waiting for the virus to just disappear as a certain dangerous Liar-in-Chief suggested would happen. Cancel the damn event. Now.

Yes, I am so sad that this means the BMDCA National Specialty MUST be canceled. UPDATED: The Specialty IS canceled because we have outstanding people in charge. Kudos to them for making the tough decision.

But you know what is even sadder? Dead People.

Berners with The Edge, Week Six

I have been impressed by many things but two things that members of the Edge community seem to be embracing with gusto is recognition of the need to micro training, both in terms of Least Trainable Units but also session lengths, and the emphasis on Attitude.

In the video this week I start to discuss when and how to put micro-steps together, and use the example of Claire’s recall. I train the “wait” and the “come” separately (of course!) and apparently so well that when I put Claire on a wait and called her (“come”), she was uncertain how to respond.

File photo from 2019 Specialty where she knew how to “come” from wait — apparently, I have REALLY trained “wait” since then.

LOVE IT!

We should expect transition bumps when we chain Least Trainable Units together. Not a Big Deal.

In this week’s video (click HERE) I also try to navigate a continuation of our discussion about Ring Nerves. Specifically, I address how to handle our perception that people are mean and unkind and insulting at Dog Events because believing that adds to distress, which doesn’t help anyone.

This is a challenging topic because perception is reality — even when it isn’t.

Does that make sense?!

We react emotionally as if what we perceive with our mind (cognition) is 100% accurate and true, but we know from all kinds of research that humans are actually pretty terrible at the accurate interpretation of others.

Seriously! For a great read about this: Talking to Strangers by Gladwell — it will blow your mind. (FYI — get the audio book as it is read by the author more like a podcast).

What that has to mean to all of us is this: Our perception about the intentions/meaning of what others say and do is likely wrong — or at the very least, not completely accurate.

Oh Dear.

Please consider that when we assign the worst possible motive to what others do/say — instead of remembering we are all imperfect communicators and that humans regularly misread others — we poke at our emotional bruises. We believe bad things and so we feel bad things, even when our beliefs are wrong.

OUCH.

And I am struck by something I believe is important: when we are convinced that our assumptions about the meanness of others is 100% accurate we may well become part of the problem!

YIKES.

Describing someone or a group of participants in unflattering terms based on our highly suspect perceptions and interpretation of meaning contributes to the exact climate we are criticizing.

Dang it.

Life, with Dogs — always so educational and ready to reflect things we may not enjoy seeing. At least, that is how I feel about all this: a bit chagrined and committed to being and doing better - how about you?

Take Home Food for Thought: You might be wrong. And what would THAT mean?

Single-subject Design

I am on what I am sure is a lifelong quest to better understand myself — and just Life, with and without Dogs.

Do you ever think of yourself as a Single-subject research project?

Probably not.

I do.

One of my recent observations is random bad things quickly get translated into my “inconvenience” category rather than spinning me into the depths of despair. I recognize that not everyone is like this and I find that interesting.

Two woody near-tragic things? Meh. Good stories. (Once I stop shaking).

Where I become obsessive and intense is in an area that most people seem willing to just move on by. I am not sure what to call that area or feature of life — injustice?

But it is not just injustice — it is a specific area of injustice that makes me bristle.

Hmmmm.

In thinking of situations that send me off to obsessively hunt and stalk like a quiet lion after prey, I realize the commonality is this: Taking advantage because of a morally bankrupt character and/or position. In such circumstances, I simply won’t back down.

Why, I wonder, am I like this?

On the positive side, I have learned to line up the dots and make sure I am correct before moving in for the take down.

Further, experience and maturity (!) has taught me to use only the amount of pressure that will generate desired change. No need to announce the name of the Cheater, for example, if more subtle pressure will work.

But yes, I do wonder why I walk through the world like this, triggered by things that cause others to shrug with resignation.

“Speak softly and carry a big stick.” (Theodore Roosevelt)

Interesting.

Maybe this is a kind of important diversity?

I don’t know.

What I do know is that this is just an aspect of who and what I am, and I am okay with that because I also know that I am loyal, fair, and quick to extend Grace — because in the end, we are all only human.

Except dogs — they are not human. They are so many other and better things.

I love research. Even — or maybe especially — when the subject is me.