Calm-Assertive

Calm-assertive is of course one of the catch phrases of Cesar Millan.

Today I happened to catch part of the Greta-Hoss episode. The owners asked will the dog eventually learn? Cesar replied. Eventually you learn. If you learn to become calm-assertive, they will become calm-submissive. There is no other way.

If he threw in a "grasshopper" in there, it would have been complete.

So this morning I worked on my calm-assertive energy. It's almost like working on your chi. Kimo was growling around the corner. I went next to him but he was still growling. So I figured maybe he couldn't see me. So I went in front of him, went down the side of the house to look in the front, saw nothing, walked back confidently and shushed him back from the corner. Later I saw him lying down relaxed on the slab.

To me, to move assertively is to move like Michael Jordan. He would trot light-footedly on the court, almost like a dance. Currently, Kobe's footwork is somewhat similar. Another one with a similar type of movement was Bruce Lee. He was also very light footed. Probably influenced by the fact that he was a cha-cha champion. And of course, they were both very confident, on the edge of being cocky. Or maybe over the edge.

I recently got the Kung Fu Season 1 DVD set (which was on sale at Amazon.com, come to think of it, I bought it with the NBA Legends DVD which featured Michael Jordan). On the first episode, Caine calms down a horse. When I think of Kwai Chang Caine, (beside the kung fu), I think of calm. I'd say he's the epitome of calm. But with inner strength.

Cesar of course is another good example. His walk can best be described as confident.

So if you combine the energy of Cesar Millan, Michael Jordan, Bruce Lee, and Kwai Chang Caine, you might wind up with a calm-submissive dog.

Anyway, today I tried to walk more confidently. And the walk went fairly well. I walked in short sections past Keith and he remained silent. A couple of times, Kimo wanted to look over and I just tugged the leash to turn his head back.

The only thing that went wrong was that a emergency medical vehicle (pseudo-ambulance) went to the Wong's house. When they first passed, I turned Kimo into somebody's driveway and away. But when the vehicle parked, I was forced to pass them. Kimo kind of acted up, but I corrected him a couple of times while continuing to walk.

Now that I think about it, he did act up when coming back from the Hayashidas. I don't know what it was, but I saw Flores in the distance, so maybe it was her. But he usually doesn't react to her much at all. Maybe she was wearing something different. Or maybe he just forgot.

After that it was food fetch on the steps which went fairly well. Though he missed going once. So I did one more and he got both of them. So I figured I'd quit while I was ahead.