A Lesson from Colt

Colt is my one and one-half year-old Bichon. This morning I let him out to do his thing in my fenced back yard. After ten minutes, he had done nothing. Figuring he needed more time, I went back into the house because I had to get dressed for Serenity Meditation, which occurs every Monday morning. Colt followed me back in and, when my back was turned, pooped in my closet.

Furious, I was. I screamed at him, put him in the crate, and didn’t speak to him when I left.

When I checked online to see why he might have this behavior, I learned two things: (1) He might have had a digestion problem. (2) There might be something outside he’s afraid of (like coyotes).

Even though our yard is fenced, twice a coyote has come right up to the fence. He is understandably frightened. In fact, sometimes he stands just outside the door, puts his nose in the air to smell, and then turns around to go right back into the house. I get it.

AND he did have digestion problems from eating the whole bag of cooked chicken I had put out to thaw for my lunch yesterday! He jumped up as high as the counter until he could reach it to knock it on the floor.

I’ve been told I need to send him away for a month and pay $2,000 for him to be trained. I think I need to remember he is not human. (I also need to remember not to put food too near the edge of the counter!) Together, we can work this out—if I stay out of anger and unreasonable expectations.

You write or draw it: Is there anything going on with you in which your expectations may be unreasonable?