Great moments in dog training. #2 in a series

Otter-bug, my wife’s Mississippi mongrel, has been giving us the finger a lot lately. Mostly on recall out in the yard and in the field, so we finally decided to introduce her to the e-collar.

Kermit, my bird dog, has been collar trained for years. He rarely wears it anymore except when he needs a refresher or is learning something new. He is fairly sensitive to the zap when he is relaxed, but when his drive is engaged, you had better bring the lighting. 

I need to learn Otter-Bug’s levels for both rest and when she is engaged so we know the right level for any given situation. So, for the last couple of weeks, I have been getting Otter-bug used to the e-collar. I let her wear it around the house while it was not turned on for a week or so. Then I put it on her when we went out to play fetch in the afternoons. After a few sessions, I turned the collar on, so it would blink, and she could get used to the little flashing light. We told her she was wearing her “blink-bling” when she went out and she got all excited to play.

The point here is to make sure she never associates the collar with any stimulation she receives. We want her to think that disobeying us brings the wrath of an omniscient god, albeit, a gentle one.

Finally, she was acclimated to wearing the collar and it was time to test her sensitivity to, El Zappo.

Step one, get the dogs to calm down before we go out for our daily afternoon fetch session. Easier said than done. They are both very excited to go out and play and are bouncing around like a couple of kids at Disney for the first time. Eventually, with both dogs finally sitting in the kitchen, mostly quiet and looking at me, and with the transmitter behind my back, I give Otter a nick with level one…Nothing.

Not surprising. I can barely feel level one myself.

OK, let’s try level one, with the button held for a few seconds of continuous stimulation…Again, nothing.

Allrighty, Level two, nick. Again, No reaction. Level Two is pretty weak. Kermit only feels it if he is totally relaxed. Level two, continuous coming up!…nothing. Huh.

OK, Level three, it is. A quick nick, and …

Nothing. Tough little bitch. She’s just staring at me like “when are we going out?” Kermit, he just lay low, with the fidgets. He is whining and inching towards the door.

“Kermit!” I growl, “WAIT.” I need to move this lesson along. They’re both getting antsy.

I don’t really want to go to level four too soon. It is fairly hot.

Soooo, level 3, continuous…otter doesn’t even blink, She just looks at me like a cow looks at passing traffic.  Kermit, on the other hand, yelps and shakes his head.

Fuck. I put the collar on the wrong dog.

Lesson over.

The Great Divide as Opportunity.

There is a great opportunity here that we all seem to be missing. It is an opportunity for many of us to come together and understand each other.

Please consider the following:

• ·      Restricting travel for citizens of a handful of nations which happen to be predominantly Muslim seems to some, a small matter of inconvenience for a few, with great security benefits for many Americans.

If you are on the other side, of course, you can see right through that. What security benefits? Refugees and immigrants (these are LEGAL immigrants we are talking about. There is already a de-facto ban on illegals. That is why they are called illegals) rarely, if ever, conduct terrorist attacks. Further, the attacks that have happened here were NOT perpetrated by immigrants from any of the nations on the “banned” list. The attackers were from nations that are noticeably missing from that list.

Does this scenario sound familiar? It should.

• ·     Restricting sale or access to a small set of firearms that seem scary seems to some is a small matter of inconvenience for a few with seemingly great security benefits for many Americans.

If you are on the other side, of course, you can see right through that. What security benefits? Law abiding citizens no matter how well armed they are, rarely, if ever, conduct murderous attacks on innocent people. These are LEGAL firearms owned by law-abiding citizens we are talking about. Murder is already illegal. The vast majority of firearm deaths in this country are either suicides or the result of criminal activity. Making certain guns illegal, or more difficult to get legally, will likely have no reducing effect on either category and may indeed have the opposite effect.

If after reading this you are formulating a reply as to how your side of one of these arguments is different, and more righteous, than the other side, you are missing my point. Everyone’s freedoms are important. A divided nation is not in any of our interests. PLEASE take a couple of minutes, or at least a couple of breaths, and look for ways to understand the other side OF EVERY ISSUE. We are literally all In this together. If we cannot find common ground with those with whom we disagree, then I truly fear that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, may indeed perish from this earth.

shakedown cruise

This is just a test. I will be posting material shortly related to my interests of food, fishing, business and anything else.