What my dogs teach me
Remember Dog Faming? It’s a response to the trend of “dog shaming,” where people post photos showing dogs doing “naughty” things. These always highlight lack of training rather than anything intrinsically wrong with the dogs, and often show dogs that are very stressed and unhappy. Isn’t it nicer to catch our dogs doing something good and clever that we are proud of?
Continue reading “Dog Faming Lives!”
Who knew that four photos and five short paragraphs would be my most popular blog post so far? I didn’t start Dog Faming but I hope I have done a little bit to promulgate it. I think its time has come!
I first read about Faming on Caninestein’s FaceBook page, which has a photo contest. They have a lovely theme for December: Our dogs’ greatest gifts to us. This is not a training brag or challenge. It is a way to express pure love and appreciation for our dogs.
I found this one harder to do than the previous one. It was so hard to choose, for each of my four dogs, just one thing. I am grateful to them for so much. And it’s more of a photographic challenge, too. Can we portray their lovely qualities? Sometimes, but it was a lot harder for me than photographing a trick.
I hope to see some more of these out there. Here are my contributions.
Ah, little Cricket. I was tempted to just write, “Herself” on the sign. Just coming to be my doggie was such a gift. She has brought so much in such a small package.
Yes, even tough girls need a lot of sleep when they get older. And you try getting a good photo of an awake dog with dementia sometime…maybe I’ll publish the outtakes one of these days.
Thanks for reading! And go fame your dogs! Caninestein is asking for more entries.
Upcoming topics:
Many of you are probably familiar with the trend of “dog shaming.” It consists of taking a photo of your dog next to a sign describing a naughty thing they have done, preferably with evidence of the misdeed.
I’m not a complete wet blanket. Many of these are done with love and with a twinkle in the owner’s eye. They are adorable and make me smile. But as a positive reinforcement trainer the concept rubs me the wrong way because of the persistent misunderstandings our society has about dogs and their behavior. The things the dogs do are natural doggie behaviors that we, as the ones with the big brains and the keys to the food cupboards, usually could have prevented if we considered them undesirable. In other words, in many cases it should be the owner in the photo next to a “shaming” sign.
So I thought it was a great idea when Stephanie Coleman of Caninestein started a counter-trend and contest on her FaceBook page of “No Shaming, More Faming.” In the spirit of positive reinforcement, take a picture of your dog next to a sign describing something great that they do. Catch your dog doing something right. Show the world.
I hope others will join me. Let’s get out there and show that dogs are just as cute doing good stuff! (Good on you, Sharon and Barnum, for taking up the torch!)
Shout out to Sue Ailsby’s Training Levels once again, for helping me train these behaviors.
Update 10/31/14: Check out the Dog Faming Facebook community. A great place to show off your dog doing something right!
Thanks for viewing!
Dog Faming 2: Their Gifts to Us