I had never been interested in watching the show Dog Whisperer. The name alone puts me off. We had heard both good and bad things about the show in the course of the last few years, and never we never really cared enough to investigate it ourselves. Recently we started watching a few episodes here and there, and now it's our favorite work-from-home lunch hour entertainment. We're totally sucked in. We like how Cesar commands the dogs just with his presence, not his voice or having them sit and stay. The dogs know he is in charge. Henry and Lola know we're in charge but only about 85% of the time. They are good dogs but we'd really like them to be great, perfect, not lunging at small children dogs. They understand not to eat our shoes, sleep on the sofa, steal food off the kitchen counter or bark at the garbageman. They do not understand how not to excitedly leap head-high when people come to visit, walk calmly on a leash or bark at the neighborhood children riding their bicycles. We really want them to be more relaxed and less worried about what is going on around them. Cesar says that to make that happen we need a dominant pack leader emoting a calm-assertive energy. That in stressful situations if the pack leader is calm the dogs will eventually learn to be calm, they become calm-submissive.

Thomas speaking to the dogs: "Do you like having me as your pack leader?"

Me to Thomas: "WHAT?!"

Thomas: "I am clearly the dominant male."

Me: "And that matters, why? I am clearly in charge around here. I am the dominant pack leader."

Thomas: "I am the dominant one."

Me: "I am the dominant one. I do most of the feeding, walking and caring for these dogs. They know I am in charge."

Thomas with his knee on my back pinning me to the floor: "Say, 'I'm the dominant one.'"

Me: "I am the dominant one."

Me again after incessant tickling while still pinned and immobile: "Don't you feel that two people in a loving marriage should really face this together rather than one being dominant over the other?"

Thomas releasing me: "Yes, but then you can't claim you're the dominant one!"

So from this example we can see that I displayed calm-assertive energy and male-mind-boggling marriage rationale to overcome this heightened situation. And as thought before, I am the dominant one!

I really didn't walk much at all this week. The weather was lousy and if you've ever known anyone that lives in Southern California you know that if it is not 70 and sunny they suffer from severe Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD. When it rains they are completely useless, not able to drive, throwing themselves off the highest building and just generally moping around unable to perform any task because their brains shut down at the first sight of a daunting cloud.

It rained all week and all weekend. It was so depressing even the dogs slept in until noon yesterday.

: :: ::: :: :

Week 5
Walking: 1.3 miles
(really pathetic)