I spend a good chunk of my time observing Maggie and Maxwell in different situations, trying to figure out what causes stress, frustration, and reactive behaviour, and what makes them relaxed and happy. I'm noticing that they have a lot in common. Both are:

Reactive in a room full of dogs on leash <<<>>> Happier than stink with a big gang of dogs running around like nutballs in the snow.

Tentative around certain people <<<>>> Oblivious to those same people when there's lots going on

Reactive if they see one person on a trail  <<<>>> Just fine walking down a busy street

On the way home from Maxwell's obedience class where he was all barky and lungey at the other dogs, and too nervous to work with Mary, the instructor, on a doggie zen demo, I stopped for a walk off Lac Le Jeune Road for a stroll. Maxwell had his ball, and Maggie was off sniffing in the bushes (she hauled out a deer carcus). No stress, just pure fun, exercise, and fresh air. 

Then off in the distance I saw someone with too many dogs to count. I put Maggie on a leash and was trying to get Maxwell to come closer (not easy when he has a ball -- that's another story) and watched as the dogs approached. The dog walker looked very relaxed, and was probably amused as she watched me working on a plan.

They got closer. There were so many of them. I thought oh the heck with it, and let Maggie off the leash. When we met I watched all the dogs go through their rituals. Maxwell at one point had his tail down and crouched as 2 dogs sniffed around him. Maggie was her usual perky and whale-eyed self. But this only lasted a minute. Actually less than a minute. I asked the dog walker if I could tag along, and off we went for a few kilomometres. Maxwell and Maggie were showing all the signs of calm, happy, normal dogs -- wagging tails, chasing, rolling, laughing. They would check back then off they'd go again. 

I watched as dogs scolded Maggie for getting into herding mode, and as Maxwell got a little too pushy. At one point a rancher drove by and Maxwell started to chase the truck, then turned back as if to say "hey, isn't anybody going to join me?". Then he rejoined the gang, promptly forgetting about that bit of excitement. I loved the way the dogs were just working things out without any interventions from us humans.

The dog walker was Ashley from Urban Tailz in Kamloops. She offers a variety of services, from dog sitting to pet taxis, and dog walking. During the walk I had a chance to pick her brain about canine behaviour, and listen to her unsolicited observations. "Look, Maxwell's tail is now held very high. He's no longer worried. He's becoming quite confident." "Don't worry about Maggie. The others will let her know when they've had enough of her."

Ashley said something that really stuck with me. "It's amazing to watch how dogs learn from other dogs." We also talked about how some dogs have common sense, and that it comes from being exposed to a lot of different situations, and from having to figure out things for themselves. Sure some dogs can sit, stay, shake, etc but how are they out in the real world?

This conversation made me think about Little Bob and Flower, dogs that have stayed at our house over the years. Their owner, Lynn, says that Little Bob learned everything from watching his mom, Flower. They seem to instinctively know what to do. They're those collarless, leash less type of dogs that will stay outside the store when you run in for milk. Lynn would drop the dogs off at our house, throw down a blanket, fill a bucket with water, then drive away. These dogs trusted that everything would be okay. This was even when there was nobody home and we had no fence. One time I ran into a bear walking with Little Bob and Flower. I told them to stay close and they did, one on either side of me as we marched down the road. A few times I put Little Bob on a leash because I was worried about traffic on a busy street, and he heeled like a show dog. Why are some dogs so savvy?

I was also thinking about a recent conversation with my sister, Juila, about dogs we owned when we were younger. I talked about the day I picked up Jesse, a golden retriever cross, from a dog resue place in Aldergrove. I was in my early 20s and renting a house in Chilliwack. I put her in the front seat and drove straight to my mom's house in Abbotsford. We jumped out of the truck -- no fence, no leash. I don't think it even occurred to me that I should have her on a leash. It must have been a long weekend because several of my sisters were there. Nothing bad happened. We played in the yard, Jesse came inside the house. We probably even left her outside unattended while we ate dinner. The weeks, and years that followed, Jesse came everywhere with me -- tenting, fishing, loud house parties… and never complained if she spent long hours at home while I was at work. She was one of those easy going savvy dogs. She just figured stuff out. Was it because I was so relaxed?

Fast forward to life at Lac Le Jeune. When we moved here 12 years ago there were many dogs in the neighbourhood and very few fences. We had regular visitors to our house -- Bailey the golden would make his evening rounds and would grin in exchange for a treat. Rubel the lab would join hikers for a walk around the lake. Benji the silken terrier would let out a big warning bark every time he exited the house in anticipation of a reappearance of the moose that chased him up the driveway one winter. Koda the big, loveable, and eventually deaf, mutt would wander down the street to hang out on our porch when her owners weren't at home. 

Our own little 3-legged Sheltie, Skippy, only left our property on his own 2 times during his 11 years of life -- each time in search of help during a thunder storm. We didn't teach him these boundaries. We left the dog door open so he could come inside for safety and comfort when he neded it. He simply made a choice to stay on our property. Very Sheltie like but also a good example of a dog with a lot of common sense.

I sometimes feel that Maggie and Maxwell would be much like these other savvy dogs if I would just let them make choices more often, and just be dogs.