“He stops to look around to see why.”

Harry’s Wheel of Reason

My dog, Harry Pupper, has a problem.  It’s me!  You know the saying.  “There are no bad dogs, just bad owners.”  That is a perfect description of our relationship.

Oh.  Don’t get me wrong.  We have a wonderful, loving relationship.  Except when he exhibits poor social skills.

He is strong willed. It could be said that this is, perhaps most of the time, one of his greatest character traits. Yet, there are times when he just can’t seem to help himself and that’s not a good thing.  He barks incessantly at people when they walk or drive by, and wants to give chase.  Often times, it’s all I can do to keep him at bay and I regularly struggle to keep my hand attached to the handle of his leash, while walking together each morning.  So, I decided it was time to become a more responsible owner by teaching him new habits.

As a person approaches us I say, “Off the road.”  Then, we step aside to let them pass.

The next command I give him before our neighbor passes is, “quiet.”  That is supposed to be his prompt to sit quietly as the car or person passes.

We’ve been working on this for months now.  Gladly, sometimes he’s been pretty good about it.  Other times he’s not.  So, I decided to increase our practice when there was nothing tempting him.  That’s when something else about Harry was revealed.  Harry has an internal, mental, wheel-of-reason that turns in his mind!

“Off the road.”

“Quiet.”

Harry hears and looks one way.  Then he looks the other way.  He pauses.  He looks back the other direction.  He sees nothing!  So, he thinks!  He wonders!  I can see the wheels turning in his mind.  When he sees no valid reason to get off the road and be quiet, he chooses to do neither!

“There are no bad dogs, just bad owners.”  I say to myself, as I watch Harry make his clear, reasoned choice. 

That’s the moment I realized, “Harry and I are more alike than I had ever imagined!”  And, while maddening, when he does that, it has allowed me to comprehend that, like my best friend, I’m the owner of my own choices.  It’s just that I hadn’t thought of the way my sometimes-poor reasoning has doggedly-delayed my personal development before.  The way my own mental wheel-of-reasoning can turn short at times. In other words, just because I look around, see nothing and then check by looking the other way as well, doesn’t mean my own wheel-of-reason will travel the distance to the ultimate benefit of long-term wellbeing.  Just like Harry.

My dog, Harry Pupper, and I have a behavior problem.  Perhaps that famous saying should be, “There are no bad people or dogs, just poor reasoning skills.”  That is a perfect description of how similar Harry and I are.

Oh.  Don’t get me wrong.  Harry and I have a wonderful, loving relationship.  Except when we chose to limit the travel of our personal wheels-of-reason.

We’re both strong willed. It could be said that this is, perhaps most of the time, one of our greatest character traits. Yet, there are times when we just can’t seem to help ourselves and that isn’t a good thing.  We bark incessantly, and want to give chase toward not-so-good choices, even though we’re working to keep ourselves bound to a path of maximum personal and societal benefit.  

So, I’ve decided its time to become a more responsible owner, driver of my own wheel-of-reason.

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!