Hi folks, thanks to my work as a dog listener, it seems yours truly has once more been able to escape the cold snap by the skin of his teeth.
I remember in January this year leaving Gatwick airport a few hours before Britain froze solid, and now at the end of the year the same thing has happened. Watching images of the white-out from Australia seems like deja-vu...
However, the Aussies aren't necessarily too happy right now either (and not just because of the cricket). The East coast is unusually wet and not too hot either (whinging Aussies...), although I briefly visited Broome in the West and suffered the quickest dose of sunburn ever - 10 minutes even with sun tan lotion on.
It is at times like these that I ponder the issue of Man's place in Nature. We like to think that we are the masters of the planet, and indeed we are capable of the most amazing feats, far surpassing our own limitations. However, Nature does have a habit of reminding us on occasion that we are just ants on the anthill, and at any moment the kettle of boiling water that is the weather can descend upon us and cause chaos.
Those right now on the cold half of the world are more affected by the lack of daylight than the huge amounts of snow. The condition known as S.A.D. is due to a lack of vitamins provided by the sun, coupled with the continued need to work with the same intensity as in the summertime. Nature understands this and either shuts down or heads somewhere warmer. Geese do this and laugh at us as they go....
One of our biggest obstacles when working with dogs and training dogs is our reluctance to admit that we (and they) are animals with a very powerful nature. Once we accept the nature of the beast, we can work with it, not against it. As soon as we ignore it, we are setting ourselves up for a shock.
Funny how we accept a cat's nature far more easily - if you get scratched by a cat you are told that the solution is to leave the cat alone. If a dog nips, then it is an aggressive monster. One is accepted for its nature, the other is not.
When somebody tells me that they were "bitten" by a dog, I ask how it happened. Chances are they approached the dog - and invading personal space without permission can lead to being told to go away...
Check out these clips of what is possible when you accept the force of Nature and can manage it.... and when you don't. You shouldn't laugh at one of them, but see if you can help it! Stay Warm, Tony Knight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYFoF5UIX0U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
