SWAT Dog

Today we went for a hike, something I have been meaning to do with TWO for a long time. I spent many hours last night mentally wrangling with whether we should go to a more isolated area which usually also means a much more narrow path and therefore harder to escape whoever is on the trail, or a much busier trail with a wider and more established path he can see down. I finally opted for the wider, more open trail and hoped we would be able to deal with the greater number of people these hikes attract. We went to Tiger Mountain West 3, one of the most popular trails in the state, mostly because you would have to be drunk, high and blind to get lost on it and because although the first mile is somewhat steep, the rest is a piece of cake. I was hoping since it was a weekday, we could at least avoid some of the crowds. I was wrong. We arrived in the parking lot to find it crowded by my standards as more than 3 cars is 3 too many for me but relatively empty for true capacity. I wavered in my determination given the number of people but we decided to go forth and if not conquer, crawl our way up.

TWO was immediately ill at ease with the new environment and all the people. Although everyone was nicely spread out and the path was wide, it was still fairly close quarters for him. We ran into all sorts of people, a couple dogs and varied terrain. He did well with the people and dogs and I could see him tempted by the smells, trees and the trail but he was far too distracted keeping guard for people than to really explore the outdoors.

About 1/2 a mile into it, I realized my dog was employing excellent tactics and maybe I should pay more attention. I already knew he had verbal commands down. But I suddenly realized as we rounded a switchback that he was actually pieing the corner. And doing it perfectly. Then I noticed that he was very effectively using cover and concealment to avoid someone before they saw him and if they did see him, verbal commands were immediately forthcoming. The funniest one, which alas, put a nail in our hiking coffin, came when we reached a straight uphill and he could not see over the crest of it. He immediately sensed that anyone coming down would have a strong advantage over him and at first he kind of low crawled off to the side of the trail and when he realized he could not avoid being surprised from above, he sat down and refused to move. With his tail almost parallel to his body under his tummy, I realized the stress level was way too much for him and we turned around.

On our way down, we caught up with a creepy guy whom we had passed going up, the kind of guy you don't want to be alone on the summit with. (Don't worry TWO, even I growled inwardly at him.) TWO really did not like this man and no amount of my whispering, "Don't worry oh white one, I can take him" put him at ease. We got close enough to this guy that TWO sat down and refused to walk any closer. In fact, he turned around and wanted to go back UP the mountain. So there we were, trapped in one section of trail on a veritable treadmill. Up and down a 1/4 mile section. Each time we ran into someone, he wanted to go the other way. Just as I was beginning to get dizzy, he finally decided creepy guy was no longer a threat (all the witnesses around? the fact that creepy blue clad guy was now sitting down and looked like he had just summited Everest instead of a hill? the sudden understanding that the only thing between him and car was creepy guy in tights?) Who knows. Down we went and my attempts at getting him to explore the flat kiddie trails were fruitless. He knew exactly where the car was and there would be no deviation so that was the end of our hike. I am thinking isolation for next time.

One of the biggest, hardest, first lessons I learned with TWO is that most of the time I can't finish what I set out to do. I am one of those people that if I say I am going to go do this, climb that, summit tomorrow etc. I will do it. Before TWO, I had never quit in the middle of anything. It has never been ambiguous. But now for the first time, I cannot set out in the morning saying I will run this route, hike this trail or walk this path with TWO and know I will finish it. Most of the time, he is simply not able to finish what we set out to do. So I have learned to be flexible, not feel like we failed because we didn't finish and have learned to explore more, find new options and realize that it just isn't going to happen today. Most of the time we discover something I never would have seen by trying another route. And sometimes I just go home and curse the dog the entire way. Silently of course.

Another frustration I have is thinking of the vast number of dogs whose dream in life would be go to the dog park every day, go running, hiking, swimming etc. All the things I keep trying out with TWO and although I think he would like these things, he is not capable of enjoying any of them at the moment. Maybe he never will. Maybe his dream day is lying in my backyard guarding it and never seeing anything outside his routine, his normal venue or his familiar horizons. I haven't figured out yet if this is simply his having no desire to get out and see the world (like most of the people I work with) or if this is an issue of having the desire to do these things but not being mentally capable of handling places so foreign yet (like the rest of the people I work with). Maybe I'll never know but I do intend to give him more opportunities to see the world. We will just continue to adjust and calibrate as needed.

As for TWO, he is asleep on the deck and his tactical training services are available for hire. If our city weren't crying poverty from the rooftops, I would rent him to SWAT for training. Unfortunately, in addition to lacking city funds,my sewing skill deficit means he does not have the uniform of the day for training: the esteemed SWAT skirt. Policy faux pas.