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Value of an Older Dog – and Letting Dogs be Dogs
????I’m so grateful for my completely reliable, wise and experienced 10yo Joy, who literally leads the way for my puppy Bliss. Bliss has been learning to swim the past few months, and has gone from needing her life-vest (or she’d sink) to this tremendous voluntary swim yesterday. Bliss is nervous about waves and yet, after watching Joy swim around (totally voluntarily; she was not going in on my request or to chase a toy – she just loves to swim), Bliss joined her. (Joy has the nearly full white collar; Bliss has more copper trim and just a dash of white on her neck.)
⚖There’s a balance, obviously, between safety and allowing dogs to be dogs. I think there’s a parallel here with parenting. There is a continuum between “helicopter parenting” and neglect. I strive for a balance – to let the dogs be dogs, as much as possible, while actively supervising to ensure safety.
In this situation, here’s what I assessed initially and continually:
✅Both dogs have a very reliable recall. With Bliss, I don’t let her off-leash if there are other dogs nearby – she’s not reliable in that context, but otherwise, she’s about 90%. Joy is 99% unless someone is actively throwing a ball… Neither of which was happening anywhere near us.
✅Both dogs are strong swimmers. Bliss lacks confidence, but she’s got the mechanics down. Joy has swam successfully in stronger current than this – I trust her judgement about what she can handle, and they turned back BEFORE I needed to call them.
▶Bliss learned that those big waves are swimmable. That she can navigate getting in and out, without being afraid of them.
✅The rocks were slippery when wet, but both dogs have been practicing on bluffs like these for several weeks. Joy has sure footing, and makes wise choices. Bliss is learning and the only way she’s going to get better/stronger is for her to try it on her own, and let her follow Joy’s path. There were no big drop offs here.
▶I saw that Bliss was following Joy and staying focused on Joy’s choices.
????I saw that Joy didn’t mind that Bliss was following her and mimicking her.
????Both dogs were checking in/looking at me from time to time.
✅There were no other people or animals around; no traffic nor temptations that would pull them away from the lake or me.
As I reflect on the experience this short video captured, I am super, super grateful for Joy teaching Bliss things that I cannot. How to “dog” in a natural environment, stay safe and gain confidence.
We all slept well last night. ????
Have you enjoyed an older dog mentoring a younger dog? I’d love to see more examples of this invaluable relationship!
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2 Replies
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@catherine What a beautiful video, watching it is calming to me and in awe at dogs being dogs! I love how you pointed out what made this safe for your dogs. I love how they mirror each other at times. The confidence with the choppy water. I just love it all!! Thank you for sharing! My oldest dog is 10 and youngest now is 3 – I always admired their relationship. How my older dog teaches and builds my Berners confidence in ways I could never give him. The bond, the trust, and watching them be dogs is so beautiful!
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Thanks for your reply @pawsup and for appreciating all that went into this post. It’s really interesting to me how tolerant Joy has become of Bliss’ shenanigans. Bliss had to learn some tough boundaries early on. They are assuredly NOT besties, but in this video, I love that Joy’s ready to lead the way, and Bliss respectfully learns and follows. 🙂
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