Fiona Taylor

Written 10th February 2022

… and does intuiting ‘it’ matter anyway?

My Partner has a rescue dog, H.

He is about 8 and a half and a wonderful dog to be around. As a rescued dog he was not accustomed to play or walks before he came to live with my Partner. If I’m honest he frightens the bejeepers out of me when he barks… mostly because he so seldom does it! He barks as often as the cats do!!

But no postman nor delivery driver at the door creates anything more than mild interest or the flick of an ear

He is a big dog – and when he barks it is whale deep!!!

H is focused on his pet… or is it the other way around? Who is the pet and who the owner?? Not sure, who owns who really…

Safe to say, my Partner shows care for H in ways that amaze me. They have a deep connection that I envy.

My post is about intuition. A subject that I find fascinating because so much of our intuition is pure hunch and gut instinct… guesswork.

As a person not brought up with any pets, living with them is very new to me. I find endless joy with them… now…

… but it has grown over these months from superficial smiles to raucous laughter that truly brings joy to my soul!

— and what has made the difference? My intuition!

As I mentioned, H was a rescue dog and did not know how to play, had no toys had no muscle tone because he was not walked. My Partner nurtured him to be a beautifully mannered dog that is whistle trained (I now own my very own dog whistle!! )

Over the past few months H has trained me to play with him! Yup – it’s the only way I can describe it. Not sure if either of us knew about this before… but here it is…

I noticed that H responds to me when I laugh… he perks up and does the waggy thing! I wasn’t sure if I was right at first – but others have noticed too, he does seem to like it when I laugh!! He likes it

If we are on the beach playing with a ball he becomes quite animated… which makes me laugh even more! It seemed to be the only time he played with us, until I noticed it…

… after his meals he would go and stand near his basket of dog toys. He might sniff and dig a little to find his toy of the day. He would also stand near his bed… in an odd position… but nothing else would happen.

This might sound odd to you, but he is a Pointer. A breed of dog used for hunting that has the natural instinct to ‘point’ at what it wants or what it has ‘seen’ (at where the prey is in nature).

You can imagine how often he ‘points’ at the dog treat cupboard

H had been pointing to his toys all this time and I hadn’t seen it!

Over the next couple of weeks after the first time that I responded to him pointing to his toys the play has become a daily routine!! It has crescendoed too!! I love it! I feel overjoyed that he has chosen me to teach!

I admit that I squeal like a piglet sometimes when the play is particularly raucous because he gets so excited that he actually barks that sudden deep boom!! Sometimes I confess – wee nearly comes out!! But I laugh so hard with him the whole time we dash about the house in the way that he has trained me!

The scariest times are when the game is so ‘good’ for him he does the doggy language thing of growling!!! It is the deepest scariest thing I have heard since I was a kid when my Mum bellowed my name up the stairs; including my first, middle and surname!! THAT was scary too!

I can’t help it – I squeal and run off or halt in pure fear!! – he is still teaching me how I can trust him… but I’m a slow learner when I comes to teeth that size, and a growl that deep.

The odd thing is that he only plays with me this way… neither me nor my Partner understand why. It seems I have been chosen to be the play mate or maybe my intuition has engendered the safety to play like this.

I certainly have to do it his way!

and I am still learning… give me time, I have only been learning a couple of months!

Intuition is an intense thing for me. Not saying I am good – but I ‘listen’ to it!

A strong memory from my past is how brilliant it was that Helen Keller’s carer had magnificent intuition. I was gobsmacked with but what if….

what if that the carer hadn’t noticed Helen’s behaviour. If her ‘intuition’ did not lead her to ‘see’ that Helen was a conscious person trapped inside a soundless sightless body?

The carer broke through and freed Helen to be able to communicate with the outside world!

Both brilliant women in my opinion!

[Helen Adams Keller was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and hearing after a bout of illness at the age of nineteen months. Wikipedia ]

Intuition is of course vital in our role as Driver Trainers for numerous reasons.

When do you notice the ‘un-noticeable’?