I Really Didn't Mean It!

Don't you just love it when a good thing comes from something you never intended?  I do.  A great thing happened in Cooper's training that I didn't realize was unfolding until the finished result.  I had to look back and figure out how this wonderful thing came to be.  I'll explain.

When Cooper was a puppy, I allowed him to be the shy boy he was.  He would retreat back into the safety of Mama's arms whenever he was approached by something unfamiliar.  I was glad for that.  I wanted him to know that my arms were the safest place for him to be.  I allowed him to be shy until I felt he was sufficiently acclimated to this new busy life of ours.  When it became unreasonable for him to be shy, I started breaking him of it.  

Breaking this habit was easy enough to do.  I just had to socialize him.  He needed to accept every new introduction, be it a person, animal or loud event.  I expected him to accept it all.  If he was afraid, rather than just shy, he got to be in the safety of Mama's arms while he explored, but exploration and adjustment was still expected.  I approached things slowly and with caution so as not to overwhelm him.  I paid attention to his level of emotion.  We would get close enough to smell, then close enough to adjust, then close enough to adjust some more, until we got to touch.  Sometimes it took up to half an hour just to get close enough just to smell.  Horses and cows are fairly intimidating thing for a little white puppy.  He wasn't always willing, but with Mama's patient yet firm coaxing, he has come to accept most things.

In the interest of socializing with people, when Cooper would meet someone he had never met before, he would do his usual retreat.  If he retreated, I would pass him off to the person he was retreating from.  I wanted him to be social.  I never left him alone with a new person.  I never wanted to ruin our bond of trust.  Sometimes I kept my hand on him for comfort, but I insisted he meet new people and learn to be comfortable with the process.  We did this with almost every new person he was introduced to.  If he retreated, I would pass him off.  Eventually he stopped retreating and became interested in new people.  GREAT, just what I wanted.

By the time Cooper was about a year or so old, I realized something very odd for a dog.  Usually when you're with your dog and meet someone, they sniff, explore then go sniff something else if they aren't commanded to sit and behave.  Well, Cooper would sniff, explore, then sit at their feet.  If someone was squatted down, he would back up under the person to sit near their feet.  He was always facing me and looking at me as he always had.  He had learned as a puppy to acquaint with people he didn't know, and he was still doing it on his own.  AMAZING to me.  I didn't even mean for that to happen.  What a great dog!  When I realized what had taken place I welled up with pride.  I don't know if I was more proud of him or me or US as a team.  What a great unsuspected outcome to an unintended lesson.

Cooper wins the hearts of those he meets every where he goes.  People love it when he seeks them out as the 'favorite' person to sit with.  When we are out at a big event and I sit with someone I'm becoming acquainted with, Cooper makes himself at home on that person's lap while we talk.  Of course, the topic of conversation is almost always about Cooper, at least in the beginning.  I've told his stories so many times while he sits with and is loved immediately by those he comes across in his life.  If they weren't such great stories I would be sick of them by now, but as you can tell, I'm not.  Otherwise this blog wouldn't exist.