Personality #5 - The Novice

To begin, today went well. The dogs are well-rested, walked, fed, and just plain relaxed (well, as relaxed as they could be).

Tonight we talk about the Novice. This is not a negative stage to find oneself in, just rather uncomfortable. Any Novice, worth their salt wants to be a good dog parent - but there are some who just can't get it (or, it takes years!!! Believe me!).

The Novice, is the dog parent who brings their dog to the park, with fear and trepidation. They are the ones who keep their dogs on a leash (very unsafe and traumatic for most dogs), because they fear their pet will refuse to come back to them, and they'll lose them (really? It's fenced, for goodness sake!). Seriously. It happens all too frequently.

The Novice is also part Banana Brain, Drama Queen and Helicopter (What, pray tell is a Helicopter? you ask. Don't fret. It's coming soon in another post!). They fret, they fume, they tremble, they freak out, they worry, they grimace at the thought of picking up after their dog, and many times say very little, as they smear it all about themselves unwittingly. The latter doesn't happen too often, but it's still disgustingly funny.

When The Novice enters the park, their dog senses something is wrong. There's nothing wrong, necessarily with the park, but with the owner. They tend to be quite apprehensive, and they really don't appreciate anyone offering helpful advice. They keep the dog on the lead, and begin walking around, if possible. More often than not, other dogs have come to sniff and check out the newcomer, and the owner and pet are usually overwhelmed with the onslaught. The leashed pet becomes timid, and then begins to bark, snarl, and snap at the strange dogs that have come to investigate. This, to The Novice, means it's unsafe for the pet to be in the park, so much so, they very often leave, dragging their dog behind them (the pet wants to stay, but The Novice is too blind to understand it's the lead that makes it unsafe for them).

Sometimes, though, The Novice will walk the dog into the park, and around the park. At times, they will finally allow the dog off the leash, but grow fearful when the happy one traipses off to another corner to pee, poo, investigate or sniff the ground, trees, shrubs, or other dogs.
This leads to a Helicopter-like mentality, where the owner (they really can't be called a parent, yet, can they!) begins monitoring the every move of the dog. They call to it, they try to throw a ball to no avail, they try running, and are hurt because here they are no longer the center of the pup's world.

I recall one Novice, who brought his beautiful German Shepard into a very popular city dog park, and had the pup on a lead. Several other dogs walked up to welcome it - none being aggressive or hyped up. The man stood there and screamed, "Will you people please come and get your dogs? I refuse to have my dog's butt sniffed! It's unnatural!" This actually did occur. He left in outrage when he realized there were few dry eyes from laughter around him. Of course, this being Portland, there were some nitwits who felt terrible for the man, presuming he had a mental condition, and they came over and took their dogs away to another corner (or it may be they were frightened he may do something violent to their pets...I think it's more interesting my way).

The Novice cannot understand why their pet won't fetch, won't pay more attention to them, and why everyone else shuns them when all they do is walk around chasing their dog screaming its name. It's basic psychology; look at children, for Pete's sake. Children with parents who do this become inured to the calling, and are trying to run away from them, lest someone think they are spawn from such a creature.

The Novice also doesn't understand about picking up poop. They may ask questions, but many times they don't want to seem stupid, so they like to quote books or trainers they've heard or read. There was one guy, who actually went to my gym, until we bumped into each other one day - after our rather brief and uncomfortable encounter - whose pit puppy used to chase Cubby around. Cubby didn't appreciate this, and the guy told me it was natural for both dogs to act that way. I responded by warning him that Cubby didn't like his dog, and would, most likely, bite his dog on the nose. He laughed, and told me I was overreacting. He told me that he had been reading how this was normal play for dogs, and I needed to calm down.

I was calm. I was warning him. Cubby bit his dog on the nose. He was upset. He didn't come back to the park, either.

Novices also like to come in pairs to the park. When they bring their dogs in, many times, and they let them off leash, they just stand there. Guess what the dogs do? They don't venture very far from where their humans are. These people cannot understand why their dogs don't go further. After some prodding from other people, one of them will walk to another corner of the park to see if this is true. Once they realize this works, they return to their original station, by the other, and then marvel at how their pet comes back and won't keep exploring. Then they leave, believing their dog just doesn't understand how the park works. Hmmmmmmm. I wonder.

I recall when I brought my first dog to the park. He took off. You can't hold a schipperke back from an open field, in most cases. He loved to play there. And there was no fence at that time. It was a group of dogs and their parents who came regularly to this one section of a city park. Later, the city built a fence and put the dogpark in place. My dogs loved to roam the perimeter and check for holes so they could get out. The grass is always greener, I suppose.

The only dog who didn't get the dogpark was Samson. When I first took him he tried his best to convince anyone to take him out of the pit of Hell. It didn't work. Then, one night, he met two Italian Greyhounds. They played. He had a blast. After that, he couldn't get enough. The next evening, he ignored them, and began bullying the bigger dogs, and discovered he could be the BMOC, even though he weighs about one-quarter of the majority of them, and could be a scrumptious meal.

This brings me to The Novice fearing the actions of their dog. Many times, people bring their pets in on leash, and are timid about letting them off, fearing their dog may be too aggressive. Um, okay. Why, in all that is normal, would you bring your dog to the dogpark? Well, honestly, it's about the owners and not the dog. Once they're convinced that within 5-10 minutes their dog will understand and have established their place in the current hierarchy of the dogs in the park, they wait. They tremble. They watch. They finally relax when they understand dogs have a nature all to themselves.

When dogs growl at play, it's not always a growl of anger. Many times the growl is one of having a good time. They have a language all their own. Watch their tails. Watch their ears. If the ears are pinned back, there's fear. If their tail is twitching to just one side, there is a territorial issue. If the dander on their back is up, it means the pup is very alert, feeling unsafe, and is rather high strung at the moment. Many pet parents aren't understanding of these signs, even after years, so it's best to help The Novice understand so they can begin to calm down, look, listen and enjoy.

They finally realize that bringing their dog to the park is where dogs learn about being themselves, play like children in their parks, and the Novice also learns to let go for a while.
Most overcome this stage. Some drag it into the other personalities....