Kids Camp is going on right now at La Plata County Humane Society. This is where 12 kids come in and spend time with the dogs and cats and learn about all the different things LPCHS does. They watch groomings, the veterinary team in action, the Animal Protection Officers, and of course they learn to help train the dogs. One of my favorite things we talk about is the language barrier between dogs and humans. We talk about how some of them speak Spanish and they all speak English, but that the key here is speaking Doglish – the language of Dogs.
To show them how some human adults do it, I put a soft leash around one of their wrists and point to the chair next to them and say “blat!” then I softly tug on the leash and gesture to the chair and repeat myself, louder….at this point there’s typically some giggles and laughter but a lot of confusion. I repeat myself louder and louder, tugging, pointing and typically patting on the chair to see if “blat” gets across.

Not only does this game make the kids laugh hysterically 🙂 it gives them a second to see how a dog feels. So often, dogs are spoken to louder and louder, with words they don’t fully understand, yet. The more we can try to talk to them in their language (doglish) the better!