I confess that, being of increasingly advanced age, I forget stuff.
Ok, stuff is a euphemism for everything.
I won’t embarrass myself further by providing humiliating, albeit entertaining stories of my lack o
f recall skills. But I am reminded of my own failings every time a dog owner comes down hard and heavy on his or her dog for forgetting a command.
“He’s just being an idiot today,” fumes Arnold’s owner. Arnold is a 10 month old German Shepherd. “He knows Down. He did it perfectly yesterday. But now he looks at me with this blank expression whenever I say it.”
Which leads me to wonder – maybe we hold our dogs up to a higher standard than we do ourselves. After all, we sheepishly admit “I’m having a bad day” or “Oops, guess that was a senior moment.”
We excuse ourselves for our lapses and imperfect behavior. Yet we expect our dogs to never falter in their performance of their duties. (And by the way, we can write a list or rely on our iPhones to keep us on track. Dogs have nothing but their brains…and us.)
Your dog, by the way, may indeed be having an off day. Or more likely, YOU are. Your dog may be reacting to the body language and voice tone of the fallible human being who is his owner, and who is being unclear or confusing in his or her demands.
So, if memory fails you on occasion, you can bet your dog will have a brain fart once in awhile, too.
Don’t give in to frustration, yell at him, or dwell on his mistake.
Move on.
Take a deep breath. Change it up. Throw a ball for him. Bring him out on a walk. Give your dog – and yourself – a break. Then, when you are both relaxed and ready, try again.
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