It finally happened.

Yes, readers. It was bound to happen at some point, and Monday, boy did it EVER.

I lost every shred of my patience with my dear sweet dog.

Now, there have been times where my patience has run thin, to be sure, but in the five months (tomorrow) that we have owned Miles, I had never, ever lost my patience with him. Have I been close? Yes. Have I completely lost it? No.

Until Monday.

Now, the barking has been a problem. A large problem. One that we are working with and trying to eliminate as much as possible, but regardless, still his biggest challenge.

I bring him to work with me on Mondays, and this particular one, I had a webinar. It involved a conference call. One of my coworkers walked by my office, and he started barking at her, right in the middle of said webinar.

He continued to bark until I got flustered, and told my dog to SHUT UP. Then he didn't, so I started yelling. My patience? Gone.

I brought him outside to pee, and was still angry. He knew it, and was upset about it. We both continued to be upset when we got back up to my office, and after a few minutes, it dawned on me:

He's just a dog. He was acting on his instincts (which are particularly heightened when he comes to work with me, what with all of the smells of all kinds of different animals and procedures that are done in our office building), and he's always on heightened alert when he's with me at the office. I need to take that into account and act accordingly.

Readers, I was not doing my job as his owner. I was punishing him for simply acting on his instinct, instead of showing him that there was no reason to be afraid, or redirecting so that the barking would stop, which is exactly what I should have done. I scared him by yelling, and he didn't understand, as he shouldn't have, because he was just being a dog.

I read a lot of articles by Gail Fisher, and she's got a lot of amazing viewpoints. Her overreaching viewpoint in everything that she teaches is that a dog is a dog is a dog. They have certain things built into their instincts (just as humans do!), and that can't be helped. It can be worked on, but in any situation, they will act on their instincts if necessary. In moments of frustration where I don't know what to do, I turn to the articles she writes and it helps me.

Anywho, his "misbehaviors" (I put that in quotations because a lot of people see barking, chewing, etc. as misbehavior when they are actually either instinct or a symptom of a problem like boredom), once I re-thought it and realized that he was just doing what his instincts were telling him to do, made me feel better. So I apologized, gave him a good scritch and a kiss, and he was happy again. Good thing puppies don't hold grudges.

The lesson in this for me is what I try to tell myself at least once a day - Miles is a good boy. He's a GREAT dog. He's smart, he's funny, and he's just a joy to be around, always. It's my job to teach him what is appropriate, and to redirect and try to change those habits of his that are not desirable and redirect into something more situationally appropriate. That's my job, not his. His only job is to be a dog.

Since this moment of realization, I have been markedly more patient with Miles. I don't yell, I haven't gotten impatient even once, and I really am trying to work with him and love him in the way that he truly deserves, and he's responding in kind - no more frightened behavior, and it has brought us closer than any training I've done with him yet. Plus, now that I don't yell or get impatient, he listens. I don't have to be stern, just firm. I don't have to yell, I just have to be sure of what I am asking him to do. Those are not one and the same.

So, this week has taught me a big lesson in dog ownership, and I am really hoping that I can continue this trend, because the closeness with Miles will be worth it. He is such a good boy.