It was a beautiful weekend in our part of Texas! Warm and sunny, but not swelteringly hot like it will be soon. We spent it in Austin. Friends and family, shopping for plants at our favorite nursery, and touring a botanical garden resulted in fun times. Everywhere we went, people had their dogs with them! The evident partnership between a human and dog is always inspirational.
Austin is quite a dog-friendly city. Houston is too, but Austin has a smaller footprint. In Houston, there is literally an hour between many different gathering areas. In Austin, everything happens much more closely together. I’m pretty sure there are more dog-friendly restaurants in Austin, too.
It’s a Treat to Witness a Great Partnership
Derek and I always notice when dogs are walking nicely with their humans on loose leashes. It’s delightful to see a true partnership between dog and human, each enjoying different parts of the environment while keeping just enough attention on their partner to continually walk in unison. We tend to point out these lovely teams to each other when we see them.
Of course, there are also those teams that are unpleasant to see. I don’t know if the human part of the team realizes the danger of being separated. They could drop the leash or the frantic dog at the end of the leash could yank it away in a frenzy. It’s hard to watch the bulging dog eyes, tense bodies crouched and digging hard into dragging their handler, and the frantic behavior of a dog darting back and forth. A human with an arm stretched out in front, gripping a leash with fervor, striding faster and faster as their arm bounces and jerks is unpleasant to see. I didn’t take pictures of any of these teams that were not succeeding at partnership while out in the world, but I saw some.
Partnership Requires Decision-making
We saw more than one person gently carrying a smaller dog. Even with a smallish footprint, Austin has many miles of paths and sidewalks and people tend to do a lot of walking there. These dogs most likely had simply gotten tired. Winter recently ended and they probably didn’t go out as much, certainly not with temperatures in the 80s like it was this weekend. Without time to get into shape after the cooler months, these little guys probably couldn’t make it as far as they could last year. Picking them up to provide a break is a great idea for these dogs. In a functional partnership, partners help partners succeed.
I don’t think the pavement was too hot for dogs this weekend, but that becomes problematic when the weather gets even hotter. Fortunately, Austin’s sidewalks are often at the edge of grassy areas that provide cooling comfort for hot paws.
A Fearful Response Requires a Quick Decision
One woman was walking beautifully with her miniature poodle downtown, crossing a street when the poodle suddenly dropped into a crouch as they approached the far curb. Her handler took another step because it happened so startlingly fast, but when she felt the tautness of the leash, stopped and stepped back to her dog. She picked up the little dog, who was crouched and trembling. I’m not sure what scared the dog. There was a small metal plate embedded in the street close to the curb, but she was not in position to have to step on it. I didn’t hear a sudden noise, but I can’t hear the frequencies of sound that a dog can – no human has that capability. Did she see a leaf flutter by? Maybe a bird flew over. I didn’t see anything, but I was some distance away, inside a car.
B. F. Skinner said, “The animal is always right.” The little poodle had a reason for her sudden terror, and her mom handled it beautifully. She simply scooped up her dog and carried her as they continued on their way. It is likely she set her back down after a bit, though I didn’t see that. The dog was unable to continue crossing the street and needed help, so her mom helped her. Their lovely walking skills, displayed previous to the incident, and the interaction between them when the dog got scared showed me that they are a top-level team who are able to make their way through anything that occurs while they’re out together.
Pet-and-People Partnership: Not Just for Dogs!
To top off our dog-watching experience in Austin, we met a 3-member team at Zilker Botanical Garden. It was made up of a human, a dog, and a cat. The human carried a backpack that was available for the cat to get in to avoid any danger that popped up. The dog and cat both wore harnesses and walked with her on nice, loose leashes. When we came upon them, they had stopped so the cat, Cinder, could potty along the side of the trail. Annie, the dog, waited patiently while Cinder went about her task. She looked around at the beautiful garden and people walking by, probably sniffing the smells of animals and plants in the park.
The human handler had a pleasant conversation with us while waiting. When Cinder was finished, she laid down next to her mom and I was able to get a picture of the group. Mom asked not to have her face in the photo but was happy for her pets to appear. What a great group and solid advocate for nicely trained animals that are able to get out into the world and enjoy the immense variety of sensory inputs available!
Keep Building Your Partnership with Your Pet
As I am always saying, leash skills give humans and pets opportunities to experience more adventures. Polish up your leash skills to enhance your life and the lives of your pets, and have fun at the same time!
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