Today my Maja asked me to share something with you because she says it’s important that we laugh or smile at least once every day.
We were on a walk on the beach when Ida suddenly ran into the sea and crouched down for the big business. At first I was panic-stricken, oh God, how am I supposed to pick up the poop now! But then I had to smile and thought, oh, this is actually a really cool disposal method and I don’t have to carry this bag around with me all the time.
A short time later, Maja also went into the water and got rid of her ballast! I had to laugh so much at her facial expression, because I could see that it was not pleasant for her.
With her permission, I can share the picture with you here.
But why am I writing this to you now, other than to maybe make you smile.
I asked Maya why she did that. Well, because you were so happy about it with Ida and I could feel how relieved you were not to have to take the full bag with you on the walk. And besides, I wanted to try it out too. So I thanked her very much for being so supportive!
And since then, I always send them on the beach walk that it would be great if they could relieve themselves soon, so I can dispose it straight away. Because before, I used to just get annoyed when they didn’t do it until well after the bin and I had to run back again. Of course, just as a friendly request, because I understand that they can’t do it on demand. In fact, it almost always works and I thank the girls very much!
Why haven’t you done it before, I asked them? Well, because we got your annoyance, but we couldn’t feel your joy when we did it differently. And we didn’t know why and that it was important to you and what exactly you wanted from us.
I immediately thought of what is also said during training. We have to give them an alternative behaviour and praise them.
And that is exactly what happened, they both felt my joy about it and they now knew what I actually wanted from them. They were then happy to support me in this way. It hadn’t occurred to me to ask them before because I thought it was a physical need over which they had no influence anyway.
Also think about where you might be a bit annoyed by your pet’s behaviour or where you wish it would do something different. And then send them a picture of how it behaves differently and also your joy about it. And if it really does do something different, thank it profusely. Because our animals love to do us favours and I am always very touched by it.
Please let me know if you have tried it out or if you have already had similar experiences.
Love and light for you and your animals
Tanja