Every Dog Has His Day; Dog Training is Not An Exact Science
My little Chihuahua, Leon, has been a registered therapy dog for two years now. He has dazzled older and younger people alike. He’s helped children have the courage to read out loud, and he’s brought memories back to seniors who had dogs when they were younger.
We had our re-evaluation test yesterday and my favorite little crowd pleaser; FAILED.
He wasn’t acting himself from the beginning and every bad behavior he has, came out of him in that moment. He was barking and unruly. He wasn’t paying attention to my commands. And when he was told to “sit”, he just looked at me….My little wonder dog has been “sitting” since he was 8 weeks old.
I knew the evaluation was over and I was devastated. I was furious with my sweet little dog. I was hurt and embarrassed. I was scared that my little dog would continue to let me down because he just decided not to perform and that bothered me immensely.
Today I have a new perspective on the day. I realize that yesterday I was thinking only of myself. So, my little dog didn’t sit when I told him to…with the day behind me, I am able to look at the bigger picture. We can try again in May without any lapse in our registration and I have some time to work with him. I really haven’t continually trained with him in months, and maybe it’s time we started it up again.
So, he had a bad day. I still love him to death and he still has the opportunity to bring smiles to everyone we meet. Every Dog has his day and yesterday just wasn’t Leon’s…and it’s O.K.
