REFRESHING

I went to see Cesar Millan in Akron, Ohio, February 3rd, one of few stops he made on The Pack Leader Tour in the United States. My love for Cesar Millan is deep. I appreciate him and his philosophy and his story and his kind communication style. I left the lecture loving him and my dogs all the more. I also left with less weight on my shoulders and a more forgiving heart toward myself.

Whenever my dogs make a mistake or don't listen to me, I look to myself and what I am doing wrong. I think about what I am lacking in our relationship that causes them not to trust or respect me. I watch Cesar's show, The Dog Whisperer. I have all of his DVDs and have watched them. I have all of his books and have read them. I subscribe to his newsletter and watch the short educational videos he posts. I have heard his message that it isn't the dog or the breed, it is the human behind the dog. I have loved his dogs and mourned the loss of Daddy, Cesar's perfect dog who changed the world. I've seen virtually everything he has shared and tried to teach me. What I missed was the continual process. I only saw Cesar's "product," the wonderful way he interacts with dogs, how he encourages and creates transformation in minutes, and how he communicates to humans that they can make it all happen too. I missed the process that he continually goes through with his own pack - there is continual reminding and enforcing of the rules, boundaries and limitations.


Cesar and Junior at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, Ohio February 3, 2012

As Cesar demonstrated his feeding ritual with Junior on stage, I smiled. I had just coincidentally covered feeding on I'm a D.O.G., and everything the audience was ooohing and aaahhhing over was something I could have done with Luna and Foster right then. Nothing Cesar was demonstrating with Junior was unusual in our everyday life. I felt such happiness for my dogs and our relationship. I felt so lucky to have the same kind of respect in our relationship that Cesar and Junior shared. Then Junior started to sort of crab walk to the bowl of food without Cesar's permission. Cesar corrected Junior with his "tsst" sound, and Junior stopped, and all was well, and my heart started to pound. My heart pounded quickly again when Cesar had to say "tsst" to Junior a few minutes later during a toy demonstration. Junior needed correction. Junior needed to be reminded of the rule, boundary and limitation set by Cesar. Junior respected Cesar, but still needed a little bit of correction. It hit me hard that the process is continual and I am not lacking. My relationship with my dogs is not lacking. We rock.

This week, I am inspired to cover some of the things I continually work on with my dogs. I'll try to show what we do, why we do it, and how we remind each other we need to revisit the rules, boundaries and limitations that keep our pack strong. We are filled with trust and respect. Our Pack Rocks.