More Lessons From Locket

I have been enjoying the holidays with a lot of downtime in our new house. Like I mentioned in my last post, Locket and I have been spending some quality time together which is infusing my life and consciousness with joy and a steady stream of oxytocin. As Locket got older, she got more reactive on her leash and would pull, lunge, and/or bark at other dogs on their leashes. Gone was my affable puppy who could easily meet any dog on her leash with aplomb. “Where did my good-natured pup go?” I often wondered.  Truth be told, I never really solved the problem with her and she spent most of her days running off-leash in the wilds of Colorado, where the issue was easier to avoid. However,  in our new situation, Locket is a city-dog. Being a city-dog means on-leash walks and more encounters with other dogs on leashes, who also tend to have their own reactive patterns.  

Locket and I are making a lot of progress, with the help of a good trainer here. I have learned to  keep her engaged when we see other dogs, she is willing to  “look at that and look at me” and has even been able to stop engaging with another dog mid-lunge more than once.  The only times she even acts interested in another dog is when the other dog comes at her first, which definitely happens.  All in all, most days bring several wins in this ongoing refinement of her leash manners.  (She has zero problems with dogs in general off  of her leash and in play groups, or big yards, etc.)

The first thing the trainer told me to do was feed Locket her meals in a Kong, which takes more time to eat, creates a more soothing effect on her nervous system, and helps her overall happiness level. But after that, he wanted to see how she and I did with basic obedience. Locket loves obedience training — sit, stay, wait, down, look, leave-it, settle, etc. She also has a few tricks like sitting pretty, spin, crawl, and up where she stands on her hind legs. Oh, and my Dad taught her to catch treats in the air so she has that going for her. And, she can do basic agility jumps, the tunnel, etc. Personally, I wanted her to shake but she hates her paws being touched and so that trick proved a no-go. 

At any rate, the point the trainer made to me was that we need to strengthen her skills  and learn to  apply them before the state of arousal with another dog occurs, which takes more focus, attention and interaction from me on our walks to be a good guardian and to act preemptively. Part of what is happening is that strengthening these basic  skills, strengthens our bond which makes her more likely to listen to me, or stated another way,  to find me more interesting than the other dog. With the idea that calories are currency, the more I train her, pay attention to her, and get the treats in her mouth, the more valuable I become to her. Eventually, being with me, not the other dog become her choice, not an outer imposition, because I am more valuable to her. 

 And it is happening.

All of this training theory reminds me of yoga. (Of course it does. Everything reminds me of yoga. And since this is a yoga blog, not a dog training blog, I might as well make the leap now.) 

Over the years I have practiced asana, there have been poses I have wanted to do or my students have wanted to do. And, as sexy as the pose might be and as much as I might lust for it for a variety of reasons, 99.99% of the time, there is  a refinement of a basic action, or an opening required that I need to strengthen on a much less-sexy and decidedly less-lust-worthy posture.  Want to do kapotasana, but can’t do supta virasana? Want to do scorpion but can’t do a handstand? Want kurmasana but can’t do pascimottanasana? And so on.  See, this is just like going to the trainer and saying, “I want my dog to stop lunging at other dogs on her leash” and being told, “Make her meals take her longer to eat and work on sit, stay, look, and come.”

Now, look—I know lusting after poses isn’t in vogue anymore. Certainly admitting any postural ambition  out loud tends to invite scorn these days. And, in some circles, advanced asana is entirely disregarded as performative or exclusionary. I get it. The metaphor might not work for you. That’s fine. Scorn all you want while I keep working on kapotasana. 

But I digress.

The principle remains that the work on the basics is endless and a strong foundation is required for whatever one wants to build. I know people who want to write a book who do not have any writing practice at all. I know people who want to have better relationships but won’t look at the unconscious patterns running their relational lives. I know people who want to be stronger who don’t have strength training regime. Or perhaps someone wants to get out of debt and keeps buying things on their credit card. See what I mean?

At any rate, no matter what the goal— postural or otherwise— there are usually some basic skills to hone that would be helpful in achieving the desired outcome. That being said, its not just a 1:1 ratio of supta virasana:kapotasana we are cultivating. In addition to more open quads or a moveable thoracic spine, we are investing in the  dynamic unfolding of a deepened relationship with ourselves, of  a strengthened bond with ourselves as a good guardian, and in an ongoing choice to practice because we have  become increasing valuable to ourselves over time. (This is the part of the metaphor where we, as yoga practitioners,  are both the dog and the trainer. See what I did there?)

All right- fancy or not, sexy or not, I hope that this year brings you joy in the work, play in the training, and lots of tasty rewards to nourish and inspire you to keep going.