Honing Kino's Skills

Kino is only two years old so the fact that he has a lot of energy comes with his age but I have been sensing lately that he needs more than just physical exercise every day.  I know animals also need mental stimulation so I started searching around looking for ideas on what else I could do for him.

Since he chases me around the house when I put perfume on, I thought maybe I ought to help him use his nose in more constructive ways.  :-)   I searched online for information about "Nose work" and found several games you can play with your dog to help them hone their smelling skills.

The first day, I asked him if he wanted to play a new game . . . I told him it was called The Nose Game.  He seemed eager to learn more :-)  so I put him in my bedroom and closed the door so that I could hide treats around the house.  When I opened the door, I said, "There are ten treats hidden around the house, go find them."  Amazingly, he found them all rather quickly.

The next time we played, I made it more challenging, putting the treats under rugs, up on shelves, etc.  Each time, he amazes me with his ability to sniff out exactly where I have hidden the treats, whether they are downstairs, upstairs or out in the backyard.  No matter how challenging I make it, he eventually finds them all.

He loves the game so much that now, every day, he comes and stands in front of me and just stares at me.  I know exactly what he is wanting . . . so if the timing is right, I will say, "Do you want to play the Nose Game?" and he will excitedly run into my bedroom so that I can hide the treats.

I am planning to explore more of the games I found on the internet, so we can help him develop his skills even further.  I am not sure yet how Kino will use these skills down the road, but when we had a 6.0 earthquake here in Northern California this weekend the thought did cross my mind that maybe someday he would be able to do some search and rescue work.  We're a long ways away from that, but given how quickly he has picked up on what I have given him so far, I have no doubt he would be able to pick up on more.

I know how important it is for animals to have a "job" - regardless of what that job is (protecting the house, take care of other animals in the house, providing emotional support to the children in the house, etc).  Just like us, animals feel better when they have a purpose and know they are doing something to help others.  Lucky's job was to teach children about dogs and help them feel comfortable around them.  That is definitely not in Kino's wheel-house so maybe some day his job will be to help find people who are lost.

Only time will tell . . . .

If Only People Were More Like Animals

A few weeks ago, I was out having dinner at a local restaurant.  Towards the end of our meal, my dinner companion and I struck up a conversation with the folks at the table next to us.  They were really nice and we had some hearty laughs together before we left the restaurant.

On the way to the car, I mentioned to my companion how lovely I thought our table neighbors were and how much I had enjoyed talking and laughing with them.  He agreed that they were very nice and then he said, "but they all could use to lose a little weight."  I was stunned.  Not only was I surprised that my dinner companion would offer up such a huge slice of judgement but I was also very saddened by the fact that if he was judging others that much, I knew he probably judged himself even more.

It has been said that if we judge others, we more than likely judge ourselves tenfold . . . I think about that a lot when I hear people dishing out judgement.  Oh how I wish we could all get to the place where we love and accept ourselves . . . just think about how much happier we all would be.

On my neighborhood email list, the new trend is to judge people who still have a green lawn. Given that we are in a drought right now people seem to think that having a dead lawn is a sign that you are making sacrifices with your water usage.  The messages have been so harsh, it seems some of these folks are on the verge of grabbing their pitchforks and putting people who have green lawns up on a stake.  They don't appear to take into consideration that maybe people are cutting their indoor water usage more dramatically so that they can have a green lawn.  They don't appear to consider that people with brown lawns may be wasting water inside their homes.

Every time I read these messages, I can't help wishing that people could be more like animals.  Animals don't judge.  It's not a part of their make up.  I have never had an animal tell me "My guardian doesn't keep a very clean house" or "My guardian has really bad breath" or "My guardian should go on a diet." Nor have I heard an animal offer up judgement about themselves.

Since they don't judge themselves and they don't judge their guardians, they are happy.  Sure, they tell me what they would like, i.e. "I would like it if my guardian rinsed the slime out my water bowl more often" or "I wouldn't mind if the cat box were cleaned out more frequently" but never is it offered up as judgement against their guardian . . . just things that could make them happier than they already are.

I'd love to see us all take a page from the animal handbook and try living without judgement - of ourselves or others - and see how it feels.  I suspect there would be a lot more happy people roaming around this planet, with bigger smiles and more peacefulness inside.

One final thought to ponder . . .  a quote by the Dalai Lama:  "What is love?  Love is the absence of judgement."