August 15, 2010 – This is Frieda’s time. This week, she has her first reading at the Red Fox Bookstore in Glens Falls. There are no more available seats, and I am happy that Frieda is getting her due. Every day, Frieda does something we thought impossible just a few months ago. We bring her in to see the donkeys every morning (I watch her closely) and she watches as Maria brushes and talks to them. Every day, she is calmer and our confidence in her grows. She bears watching, and we watch her. Dogs like Frieda need a chance to succeed as well as fail, and to not have their lives smothered by our fears and anxieties. It’s a tricky balance.

Safety first, for her sake and others. I have had enough experience with dogs who can hurt people, and that will not happen again in my life.

Someone told Maria they were worried about Frieda’s reading, as they thought she might be uncomfortable around men, and I smiled. People often think they know what is best for other people’s dogs. Yesterday, Frieda sat next to six men who were strangers to her and napped while they ate right above her. Frieda has never harmed a person, or tried to, and if I had the slightest concern about that, I would never take her off the farm. She rides with me often now, and every day becomes calmer and more social. Frieda has a big, sweet heart.

I am doing this reading because she deserves it, and because there are things about training dogs like Frieda that need to be discussed, and ought to be. Dog training in America is a catastrophe as far as I’m concerned, a Ponzi scheme in which a handful of people make a lot of money telling people to do things they can’t do in their own lives, and that rarely work. Training is a spiritual experience. An individual one. It requires faith, commitment, patience, understanding of a dogs’s real nature. And sometimes, some leaps of faith. I am very proud and excited to be bringing Frieda out into the world. If there are no squirrels or cats or chipmunks in the bookstore, we’ll have a blast. We will talk about training, discuss some training books, and take some questions from the audience. There are no more seats left, and we will be rigid about letting more people in.

And thanks to Susan and Naftali  of Red Fox for helping me give Frieda her due. And thanks also to Maria for trusting me. Frieda has worked very hard to get to the bookstore Wednesday, and we have had our moments, and  I am so happy to be driving her there. Maria too.