From Dominique Norris

I was quite interested in the presentation on dog behavior and body language by Nicole Larocco. I found myself making comparisons to what I had seen in the shelter and in my own family pets through the entire presentation. It also made me realize how critical and hypocritical I sometimes am when dealing with human-animal relations. I have noticed that I am often critical (in my thoughts- never verbally) of the people coming to look to adopt an animal. They often seem judgemental or ignorant of the animals by way of comments or faces that they make. They are often immediately disgusted by the dogs that are barking a lot and/or that don't look like the perfect and pristine dogs you may find at a pet shop. I have also been annoyed by their lack of understanding of animal behavior. Sometimes people will try to pet or pat dogs or just stare at them. Soon after reflecting on these thoughts that I've had, I've realized that they may not be reading the signs correctly or at all, but I have also done the same thing. The point that I sort of got at in this reflection is that you can't expect people to understand something that they have never been taught. Therefore, I try to be more patient with people who may not have had the opportunities that I have had to learn about animals and their body language.

I was also intrigued by training a dog through positive reinforcement. Of course, I have tried to be as positive as possible, but I have found it quite hard to cheerfully call a dog's name to try to get their attention instead of yelling at them or pulling their leash when they continue to ignore you. It is especially difficult at the PSPCA to get the dog's attention sometimes because the dogs are constantly encountering different volunteers all with slightly different approaches and tactics, so I imagine that it can be quite hard for them to get a solid understanding of what means what. I have noticed this same problem with my cousin's son. He floats between his mom, grandma, aunt, and grandpa. Each person has a different set of rules and consequences so he gets easily confused with what he is actually allowed to do.

This same problem can also be seen in Timbuktu. When Mr.Bones' master dies, he wanders around and comes upon a group of boys. He has no basis on which to judge how the boys will act and so he is taken by surprise when the boys treat him drastically differently than his master did. Just as all humans are different, so are dogs. Every human has different needs, and so does each individual dog.