Report from doggie summer school

Apparently no one cares about fava bean faces. Harrumph. NPR says they're "magic," but maybe not, eh?

My guess is that our loyal audience would like to return the subject to Daisy. Of course! We had an eventful summer working on exposure training along a lovely beach bluff trail, complemented by some superb training sessions with Daisy's special ed teacher, Sheryl Carver.

First, we attended an all-day TTouch training session with hordes of very small dogs -- the very type that scare our Saint most of all. Well, perhaps there were about 15 there. But it seemed like a nightmare to Daisy, I'm sure, once we arrived after a long winding road through the redwoods. Daisy's chief concern was being jumped by a small, fuzzy white animal. These are the type that appear cuddly but in fact are quite vicious. My own chief concern was the poison oak that seemed to cover the landscape where we were training.

The little animals and their owners had gathered in order to learn enough of the Tellington TTouch method to apply it at home. TTouch uses circular motions along an animal's body in order to stimulate the release of calming hormones. At the same time, it helps dissipate the stress hormone cortisol, which can get stuck at a heightened level.

At least that's how I understand the desired outcome. The explanation on Tellington's Web site is not helpful at all: the technique, it says, serves to "to awaken cellular intelligence." That's a bit general for me. Not only that, one's cells pretty much have to be intelligent all the time. (See Nels Quevli, although perhaps the goal is not to awaken, but to manipulate cell signaling: see this chat with Guenter Albrecht-Buehler, who has challenged accepted thinking about the control of cell function.) It also makes the animal more aware of her own body -- important in Daisy's case because once she's outside of the safety of home, she completely loses her focus and forgets she has four feet and a very large, reliable body.

We were there to learn TTouch and to let Daisy hang around tiny dogs without flying into a panic attack. We didn't get far with either at first. As usual, we had to stay about 40 feet from everyone else, hiding behind bushes and pacing around in order to keep the anxiety level down. As a result, it was difficult to hear the TTouch explanations.Ah, but one class member, hidden most of the day inside a big, tent-like dog container, proved to be a wonderful surprise! "Chance," his name was, and he was a very large fellow. Still under a year old, nevertheless he stood a full head taller than Daisy and had big, brown eyes. Unfortunately, this mastiff was somewhat human phobic, and did not like eye contact or loud noises. But Saint Bernards were okay, so at the end of class, the two spent a little time "together" -- that is, within about 10 feet of another while going through a confidence course at the same time. Under carefully controlled conditions, with one person holding a leash on each side, each animal walked through a maze, balanced on a foot-high boardwalk, and stepped through tires. They both did beautifully, and what a success for Daisy! While she did trip on the boardwalk while sneaking a look at Chance, otherwise, she managed to pay attention and even walk by all those little white dogs without a hitch.

Once the day was over, Daisy leapt into the red Mini Cooper and collapsed. But all the way home and into the next day, she made it clear that she was very proud of herself.

I felt fortunate to have avoided the poison oak, although Sheryl got some. And Daisy has been very bad about stomping right through that fava bean patch at home.