Last week I was struggling to re-size the new book cover file for Amazon, in despair I asked Gareth for help – a common occurrence with anything technical, it must be said.
Our original file for the printers was measured in centimetres (and was perfect) – but Amazon measured in inches. We had at least five attempts to get it right before finally, late at night, succeeding.
It wasn’t for want of trying, it was just that we were struggling to get the technology to produce the size we wanted. One of Gareth’s emails was entitled “inches matter”, which gave me a rather childish snigger at the time – I was getting tired, in my defence – but it is true, in so many ways.
Inches, centimetres, feet, metres, miles, kilometres – we can measure distance in many different measures. And distance is a key ploy in dog training.
A few days ago, Himself was walking Gus around Portaferry. Gus had been a model pooch – until, as they were passing the ferry, a truck with a trailer was unloading. As it came down the ramp the empty trailer rattled noisily, which sent Gus into a barking, lunging frenzy. Himself struggled to hold Gus, so much so that Himself had to sit down on a convenient seat until Gus had calmed enough to continue the walk.
Whenever your dog reacts to anything, distance (and time) are your friends. If you can, move away from whatever is causing your dog to react as quickly as possible and find somewhere quieter to pause and wait for your dog to calm down.
If you know your dog is likely to react to something, keeping your distance can help you use the opportunity to train you dog to stay calm, rather than trying to control you whirling dervish on the end of the lead.
Distance – an owner’s friend.
Bye for now,
Carol