What Dogs Learn

Anyone who has ever trained a dog knows that dogs don't always learn what we think we are teaching:

My dogs spend a lot of time under the bird feeders I fill year round. They compete for fallen seed with the mourning doves, the juncos and each other. The feeders attract a lot of birds and unfortunately a few of them fly into windows when the light fools them into thinking the glass is sky. When I see or hear a collision I try to revive the dazed bird by cupping it in my warm hands until it recovers.

Not long ago, my border collie, Keeper, and I heard a bird smack against a window and drop onto our front porch. I was indoors. Keeper was under the feeders just below the porch. She decided to investigate at the same time I was heading out the door to see what I could do for the poor bird. When I opened the door, I saw Keeper standing over a little house finch, lowering her open mouth toward the stunned bird like a candle snuffer about to put out a flame. A fraction of a second before the finch was snuffed I squawked that EHH! sound that every dog knows means DON'T YOU DARE! A startled Keeper backed away and I was able to rescue the finch.

I was quite proud of myself for simultaneously saving the bird and teaching Keeper to leave such poor creatures alone. Until the next time a bird hit the window... Keeper was on it like a shot. The unfortunate bird was half down her throat before I was half out the door.

What Keeper learned - and has since taught two of our other dogs - was not to stay away from stricken birds but to beat me to them.

Dogs have a way of keeping you humble. CG