Content warning: this week’s diary is not for those of you who feel disgust easily when it comes to the things a dog might find on their walk. If this is you and you want to be absolutely sure you do not accidentally read about such things, skip September 29 and 30 as well as October 1 and its footnote, or skip this entire post.
September 27, 2023: deep taco-inspired thoughts on society (and some dog training too)
Activity level: average
Home alone
Chai stayed home alone during Game’s (short) morning and noon loops.
Solo adventures
Moring fun with Dina
Chai went on two solo adventures: one in the morning at the Urban Enrichment Jungle where we met Daniel and Dina. The two dogs played lovely together and it was great catching up with Daniel after his Morocco and my Austria trip.
Tacos de birria
For Chai’s second solo adventure, we went to buy tacos de birria from Octavio. Today, Octavio and I talked more than we have in the past. I learned that they live en el Estado de México. Their commute is 2 hours each way and they work the taco stand 9 hours a day. Octavio lives in their parents’ house (which they own), so it makes more financial sense for them to not rent a place in Mexico City. Octavio seems genuinely content with their life, the connections they make with customers like me (who always get free consomé) and the fact that they are away from home for 13 hours a day. A taco is, I believe, 20 pesos. I’m sure he sells a lot over the course of the day. I wonder how much is left of a lot times 20 pesos after subtracting the price of the taco ingredients and public transport home and back to Mexico City – 2 subways and a camión.
It is a life, and it is not a bad one I don’t think. And then again: there is no way out of this life. I’m not familiar with Octavio’s educational background, but assuming they are unlikely to be hired for a job that pays more, I cannot imagine that they are able to save a lot of money. They probably support their aging parents. They will continue on in their house en el estado for another generation if they go the traditional route of marriage and children and such.
I think about these things as we joke over the counter of Octavio’s bike-drawn mobile taco stand – their eyes gleaming, a big smile showing bright, white teeth, short dark hair molded into a triangular prism, slightly bent to the left for a daring, playful, boisterous look. A washed-out white t-shirt with a band logo, fashionably torn blue jeans, sneakers, dark brown eyes. Octavio is slender and moves fast behind the metal counter screwed to their bicicle trailer, strong hands with long fingers tossing and turning tacos on the hot plate, ladeling taco meat, snatching a styrofoam plate. Octavio is moving smoothly like a DJ turning the tables, like someone dancing to a song only they can hear (maybe Complicado by Gera MX, Jayrick and Ervin River). They are young, they are strong, they are handsome and they know it.
Theirs is a good life, I think to myself after, if it is the life you want. An excellent life if you’re a people person who gets along with their parents and wants that traditional thing with the kids in the multi-generational house and all. You know you’ll be a home owner one day, and till then, you never have time to get bored anyways. From a young age, you have the responsibility of being your parents’ (and potentially your kids’) financial caretaker. If it is the life you want, that responsibility might feel good: you are part of what keeps the family afloat. People depend on you.
A while ago, I read Abolish the Family and the other day, I listened to an interview with M.E. O’Brien. I remember how Sophie Lewis calls the nuclear family the smallest unit of capitalism. I agree. I agree that a free society that relies on family structures (biological or chosen) is an oximoron. It’s not that a free society can’t have people sticking together – we are social animals after all and people will stick together. It’s just that in order to be truly free, family cannot be a means of survival anymore than capitalism, gender or the police. A society that is truly free is radically different, not only slightly so. A society that is truly free (we’ll get there one day, but not in my lifetime) will have to be THAT different from the society we live in today that we wouldn’t recognize it and that the arbiters of power won’t be able to perceive it as a society at all. You are rightly scared of it if you like your life because your life in a free society will be unrecognizably different.
In a free society (I think, burning my tongue on the delicious, hot consomé in its styrofoam cup), Octavio could walk away from their family and the taco stand – or they could stay. The decision would be up to them, not up to the structures they are embedded in. In a free society, the main impact of Octavio walking away would be on their own life, not on that of others (as in, the financial stability and survival of others would not depend on Octavio).
In any case, Octavio seems content enough. Until Chai recalls away from everything, we will have regular chit-chats when I get tacos and sometimes, we’ll banter or flirt a little across the counter because it’s what you do in the society that actually is.
I think of Zane and how he believes that we tend to always see our actual life in a kind of golden light and frame it as a choice we have made rather than the only option we had in order to feel less at the mercy of things. Like Swankie in Nomadland who is dying of cancer and wants to take one last trip to Alaska rather than die in a hospital …. I thought it was a beautiful, romantic and bold choice. He thought it was sad, depressing and very much a lack of a choice. I tend to contradict Zane’s arguments (I like to think I’m free to make choices myself) but sometimes, I wonder if he’s right.
If the person I am today had Octavio’s life, I would not be content. And then again, there is no way I’d be the person I am today if I had Octavio’s life. It is perfectly possible that, if I had Octavio’s life, I would like it as much as they do. It is also possible that they don’t like it at all and just don’t show me.
“¡Hasta luego!” I smile, take my tacos and leave with my Border Collie.
Picking up the formal recall again
Chai and I walked to the Urban Enrichment Jungle. After an off-leash loop, I did an easy “Schnee” recall (formal recall) rewarded by a taco. The second taco will be for more distraction training!
Leash walking in manners mode (collar)
We walked in manners mode to a corner store (5-20 steps between treats) where Chai waited outside and continued manners mode practice on the way home. She’s now passed out on the floor, looking content.
The Game of Chai
Throughout the day, Chai and Game played a lot. Maybe they missed each other while Game and I were gone!
Tricks
We worked on the 4 paws in a bowl trick.
Husbandry
“Brush” with both Chai’s regular brush and a new deshedding brush I got.
September 28, 2023
Solo AM adventures and a recall
Chai and I went to the Urban Enrichment Jungle for half an hour. We started with a kibble recall in our second location. She did SO well!
Today’s formal-recall reinforcer: tacos de canasta con chicharrón! Yumm!
Shaping
We worked on the 4 paws in bowls #5 and #6 trick again!
Home alone
Both dogs stayed home alone for about an hour when I went to pick up Kristen and Zai’s washing machine. In the late afternoon, Chai stayed home by herself while Game and I ran a quick errand.
Afternoon solo adventure
Chai and I walked to the Toy Play Plaza. She ran around, chased squirrels and played in the fountain. I had brought one of my fleece tug toys and we did a brief tug-and-chase session. WOW, her tugging has improved! What a strong, confident girl! (No video.)
After some more running around, we worked on sits and fold-back downs (they have gotten hard again) both on a park bench and on the ground.
We walked home in collar mode, going between 5 and 30 steps between treats.
Husbandry
+ “Claws!” (both back paws) – Chai stayed relaxed. Yay!
+ “Brush!” (deshedding brush)
September 29, 2023: the best kind of enrichment (content warning: it’s disgusting!), an easy recall and otherwise a regular day
Activity level: on the lower end of average
Solo adventure
Chai went to the Urban Enrichment Jungle by herself for half an hour in the morning. We met Dina and Daniel again and our dogs chased and raced each other. Chai also made time to steal another dog’s ball 5 or 6 times.
Then she had her most enriching enrichment experience yet. This is where you’ll want to stop reading if you have a low tolerance for disgusting stuff. Pick back up at the PM Adventure heading.
She discovered bandages someone had tossed into the bushes. It was partly actual bandages, partly banana (?) leaves, dripping with what I suspect was human puss. It was bright yellow and I don’t remember the last time I’ve smelled something this disgusting. She slurped down some and rolled in some more (she was in heaven!) before I picked it up and threw it into a trash can.
How we experience disgust …
(Keep scrolling down if you don’t want to read about this!)
Seeing Chai slurp puss and tossing out the bandages/leaves felt SO much more disgusting than when my dogs have rolled in human poop – and that already feels quite disgusting.
It’s interesting how this works: other animal’s poop hardly bothers me at all. It’s the human animal that brings out this visceral response in me. Someone – I don’t remember who it was – told me that this is because as humans, we are most susceptible to bacteria, viruses and parasites that affect our own species. Therefore, we respond most strongly to things that might contain potential dangers while our response to, say, the poop of a different species doesn’t bother us as much since the associated bacteria, viruses and parasites are less likely to be dangerous to us. It’s a mechanism of self-protection.
I don’t know if that’s true or an urban myth, but if it is, judging by my visceral response, human puss is more dangerous than human excrements. It makes sense I guess: if there’s puss, there is probably an infection and avoiding close contact may be smart. If there’s poop, it may be perfectly fine.
Chai got home full of energy (and puss) and, after taking a shower, wrestled for another half hour with Game. Apparently, it was an animating find!
PM adventure
In the afternoon, I walked with both dogs to the Dead Poultry Park and looped around a little. It wasn’t a long walk today but squirrels got chased and Chai got an easy taco recall in (no video).
Home alone in the PM and beyond
Chai and Game stayed home alone for a few hours hours when I visited a friend to co-work in the afternoon.
Chai also briefly stayed home by herself during Game’s last night loop.
Shaping
We worked on the 4 in trick.
September 30, 2023: another day without special events (and disgusting enrichment, part 2)
Activity level: lower end of average
Solo adventures
Skip the first paragraph below if your disgusting-things tolerance is low! The second paragraph is safe.
Chai went to the Urban Enrichment Jungle for 30 minutes this morning. Once again, it was VERY enriching: she found part of the puss-covered banana leaves I had missed yesterday (apparently, none of the other animals in the park are into this delicacy), a few licky-mat-like spots on the ground and got to eat some of the bread the person who feeds birds every morning didn’t shoo her away from today.
For her second solo adventure, Chai and I went back to Urban Enrichment Jungle in the afternoon. We successfully did her distraction recall challenge (loose back tie) for a delicious taco de canasta con chicharrón, looped through the park and played tug and fetch with a fleece tug.
Shaping
We worked on the 4 in trick.
I was also going to start working on the hug-an-object trick … but I just didn’t get around to it.
Home alone
Chai stayed home alone for about an hour when Game and I went shopping.
October 1, 2023: two parks and a new trick
Activity level: average
The AM
We went to the Urban Enrichment Jungle for Chai’s solo adventure.
Shaping
I love how in the video below, you can really see an instance of shaping with marker cues making a difference: “Good” (room service) and “Get it” (chase thrown treat) have different meanings and allow us to communicate more effectively!
We had a second 4-in session (since this one was so short, I thought two a day couldn’t hurt) and her first two sessions of shaping the hug-an-object trick (which she very much enjoyed!)
Home alone
Chai stayed home alone for Game’s noon loop.
Afternoon solo adventure
Skip everything under this subheading if your dog-finds-rotten-animals tolerance is low and/ or your love live poultry! It’s safe to continue reading under the next subheading: Husbandry.
Chai and I walked to Dead Poultry Park, did a big loop and an easy taco-rewarded formal recall. Chai’s favorite part of our outing was finding a torn plastic bag with a long-dead rooster in it (the maggots and the smell gave away the length of his death – or maybe you don’t need to be dead all that long to start smelling and turn into maggot central? I wouldn’t know.) She had rolled in it quite a bit by the time I realized what she was doing and relocated the rooster to a trash can.
Here’s what’s puzzling to me: WHY do folks not compost their dead roosters, put them in the trash can or feed them to their dog? Why is it always plastic bags by the side of the road or in a park? The back story of said roosters is (I guess – this is a just-so story I’m telling myself) the loss of a cock fight. Alright. So you don’t want to keep your dead or injured loser rooster around. But why get rid of them in THIS particular way? I don’t understand.1
Poor Chai had to take a shower – the second one this week – once we got home. She smelled too much like dead rooster to welcome her on my couch otherwise. But now she’s all shiny, showered and brushed.
Sleepy pup post rooster-rolling adventure, a shower, drying off and getting brushed!
Husbandry
+ Brush (regular brush).
+ Claws (both front paws). This time, Chai stayed completely relaxed for the first paw and mostly relaxed for the second one. We got over that brief hump of not liking to have our nails done fast!
In other news
Chai peed on the living room floor today – something she hasn’t done in a long time. I’m pretty sure the reason it happened was that I accidentally closed the bathroom door for about 15 minutes. Since Chai doesn’t have a concept of not peeing in the living room, she didn’t hold it but just went. Oh well. I hope this stays an isolated incident. If it happens with the bathroom door open, I’ll consider harshly telling her “No” before picking her up to have her finish her business in the shower. While I am not mad at her for peeing anywhere (she can’t help it), it would be nice to one day live in a place where I can unmurphy the bed while the dog is out!
October 2, 2023: by now we are done with this week’s disgusting things. I promise!
Activity level: average
The AM
Chai and I briefly went to Urban Enrichment Jungle, starting with an off-leash recall away from an empty kitchen towel target in location 2. Chai checked in with me before getting to the point I meant to call her and I used the check-in as a start button for my formal recall. Immediate response and she loved her taco, and then went to check out the empty target. You can’t see a lot on my video due to Chai’s angle of approach, so I’m allowing myself to not edit or upload it – it really is time for a major video editing break!
Shaping
+ 4 paws in a bowl session (no video).
+ 2 hug-the-pole shaping sessions.
Kiba time!
Game, Chai and I walked to Kiba’s park to meet Alan. Chai found LOTS of street food and the two girls played together and briefly with a group of other dogs.
Home alone
Both dogs stayed home alone while I walked to the tlapalería to get an empaque (whatever this is called in English).
Leash walking
I realized I needed a second empaque and went again, this time taking Chai. On the way back home, we walked in collar mode, going between 5 and 25 steps between treats.
I’ll change my collar approach for Chai: I’m going to go “up to” X steps from now on, but mark, treat and reset my step counter anytime she looks at me before reaching the X threshold. I wonder how far and how fast I’ll get her eye contact up this way. Knowing Chai, I bet it’ll be easier to then go to intermittent reinforcement … We’ll see!
October 3, 2023
Activity level: lowish average
The AM
We met Daniel and Dina at Urban Enrichment Jungle in the morning, and the two dogs played as long and joyfully as I haven’t seen Chai play in a while. Watching those two is a great way to start the day – they seem SO happy (and Dina is SO fast!)
We also had an off-leash kibble recall success! Go Chai!
Chai was ready to doze off for the rest of the morning while I worked. She had quite the workout with Dina!
We’re turning into tlapalería regulars …
I took both dogs on a walk to the tlapalería. I’m rigging up my washing machine drainage system, and it’s turning us into tlapalería regulars. Maybe one day, if the dog training thing doesn’t work out, I’ll be a plumber. What I’ve come up with may not be perfect – but it sure works!
There was probably more going on today …
… but I didn’t take notes. So we’re ending our week 26 digest here, with two sleepy puppy pictures future C just took when proofreading this post on December 11, 2023:
- A friend offered a different just-so story to me: maybe the dead roosters Chai keeps finding at this park are part of a ritual that demands they be gotten rid of in a particular way or loaction. ↩︎