Spring is a fabulous time for renewal and growth, as shared with your special "Man's best friend".
All through our lives, we never stop growing and learning, as it's all part of a healthy questing mind that stays open.
When we are small children, our mothers have unique and individual ways of communicating with us.
When you are out and about with your dog(s), you have probably picked up on the way some owners seem to subject their pets to a long stream of verbalisation, whilst shouting and pointing at the dog for something he is supposed to have done wrong! This is absolutely crazy behaviour! The dog doesn't understand a word of what is being said to him, he just feels very confused and unhappy.
All he can hear is that his owner is cross with him, and that he doesn't know what to do about it.
You will no doubt also have observed a similar scenario with children.
You will see a child kicking off in a temper tantrum with a parent that is becoming more frustrated by the moment trying to talk them out of it - and all that the child can hear is Blah Blah Blah..
And then there are those mums who easily regain control of the situation with nothing more than a certain look, now that is what you call control! I can remember my mother applying the same method when I was small, there wasn't any "I'm going to count slowly to five, and if you haven't stopped by then...
" There would be a long hard look, after which I would immediately stop whatever I was doing and return to playing quietly, because that was what was expected of me, and my brother and I complied with it without argument.
If you think about it, we can learn a lot from our own upbringing about training Man's best friend.
After all, mothers have been bringing up their broods and protecting them for the longest time, and nature has provided them with the gifts to do so.
If you ever get a chance to watch a dog mum with her litter, you will learn an awful lot about doggie behaviour and discipline in the pack, and it's all done without a word being spoken! "Actions speak louder than words" is an old and very true saying that fits right in here! I find the very same with my own dogs, obviously they understand basic commands and they get to know familiar words that they hear regularly like "dinner" and "walk" and "car", but my expectation of them is that they behave well in all circumstances, and they do! A look, or a pointy finger and they're off to their beds very quickly, because they understand what is expected of them and everyone is happy, they do as they are expected and nobody gets upset.
We, as modern day, educated human beings play down the intuitive part of our brain and look for rational explanations.
Which is how people ending up having battles of logic with their dogs...
and why dogs hear only Blah Blah Blah!