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Trainer's Corner -
April 2009
Maggie May - Our Good Old Girl
 Maggie
is getting old - 14 years old, to be exact. I think this
makes her close to 100 years old in doggie years! She is
losing her sight and hearing and sometimes her footing. She
wants to sleep all day and the other night she fell down
again, losing her way in the dark on the stairs. Now, my
husband and I follow her out at night with a flashlight and
help her find her way back to the door after she has done
her business.
Maggie is my first true dog, the first dog who was all mine,
not a family dog. I have always loved dogs and I have always
worked with them but Maggie is the reason I became a dog
trainer. I fell so in love with her and her eagerness to
please - despite my mistakes.
When I got her, she was a tiny, abandoned, sick puppy. She
responded quickly and eagerly to my clumsy attempts to
housebreak and train her to sit and to come when called. I
was stingy with the rewards and praise and I expected too
much from her too soon… We were a typical 1st
time dog owner and puppy. I swear - she let me think I was
training her, but she was training me and she has been ever
since!
She is a great dog, never needed a leash, loved to do
therapy work with me in nursing homes and children’s
hospitals, slept til noon back when I did (ah, college) and
never snapped or growled… She’s just a good dog. She has
taught me so much about life, about what really matters.
Now, as I watch her grow old and know that my time is
limited with my “Maggie May”, she is teaching me even more.
I have noticed myself stopping now, not rushing out the door
in the morning. Instead, I crouch down to pet her and kiss
her head. I will admit to spoiling her now. I let her lick
my plate after I eat and I sneak her special treats behind
the other dogs’ backs. I accept behaviors from her that I
would never have accepted before, not knowing if she is
ignoring me because she is old or just acting stubborn, but
not really caring either, just accepting her for her… like
she has accepted me for me for so many years.
I am trying to apply this understanding in more places with
dogs now. I am trying not to judge and to accept more
behaviors I used to fret over with owners. I am trying to
focus even more on what matters to the owners and what they
find irreplaceable in their relationship with their dogs.
For example, I am trying to work within the framework of a
dog sleeping in the bed, because it is the relationship
between the owner and their dog that is so special, so
irreplaceable. Yes, training is important, boundaries and
control is important. But, so is the love between a dog and
its owner. Isn’t that why we all have dogs in the first
place?
 So,
my training tip to you is - kiss your puppy goodbye on the
top of their head tomorrow and thank them for accepting you
and all your strange ways. Thank them for accepting you for
you and watch them smile.
Amber Burckhalter
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