The dogs (Sophie to the left; Rosie below and to the right) are home and they are amazing — and a bit perplexing. We have a pen set up in the living room constructed from eight 24-inch-by-36-inch metal grates and the two have been tumbling around, napping and playing with their toys.
We fed them and have been trying to train them using a book by Tamar Geller, The Loved Dog, that our friend Carol recommended. It argues for training your dogs in a non-violent or aggressive manner, eschewing striking the dogs or shouting in anger. The idea is to praise them and encourage them, getting your dogs to behave because they want rather than because they fear misbehaving.
It seems a logical approach, one that contradicts years of assumptions about punishment. Geller likens most training methods to the kind of abusive approaches used in prison to control dangerous prisoners — an approach that hasn’t worked as a criminal justice tool, so there is little reason to believe it will work with rambunctious, fun-loving puppies.
It’s only been a few hours, of course, and we have no illusion that this is going to be easy. But we’ve been won over by these amazing little mutts and look forward to the effort.
Author: hankkalet
Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.
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Hank Kalet 