Check the 'Tude, Dude

Puppy training.

Wow.

Did you know that there are half a dozen different intonations of the word “NO,” and that each and every one of them can be ignored by a puppy who’s having his first encounter with a squirrel?

Well I do… now.

Intonation is The Whole Deal when training a puppy – or, in our case, a willful adolescent dog.

Say something with too much enthusiasm, and he regresses to Play Time.

Say something without enough enthusiasm, and he senses your weakness and escalates.

Say something too quietly, and it doesn’t even blip on his radar.

Say something too loudly, and he thinks you’re joining in the Noisemaking Fun.

photo credit to Allie of “Hyperbole and a Half,”
whose Simple Dog makes me feel as though I can do
anything with my willful pup
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/11/dogs-dont-understand-basic-concepts.html

Really, everything that the Young Master encounters stimulates him in one direction or another… which can be frustrating for two puppy parents who haven’t had a dog in a number of years and are trying to get hold of the proverbial ropes without inflicting serious psychological harm upon their new housemate.

Remembering to keep a level head and a calm tone at all times – even when the dog just knocked the screen out of the window with his face because he was playing with the curtain to get at the noisemaking kiddos learning football across the street – is important. So important… but difficult.

Dealing with coworkers isn’t quite so different from dealing with willful canines – Intonation is, again, everything.

On occasion, I'll have the misfortune to encounter a snippy sort of soul who seems to delight in making the workday more negative for the rest of the general populus.

This week, I've spent almost all of my working hours on my very least favorite project - processing shipping invoices. Page after page of mis-noted, obtusely noted, or not-noted-at-all charges that I need to weed through, make sense of, and then forward along to a batch of those snippy sorts.

Which means I've spent all week bracing myself against unsavory e-mails and cranky phone calls.

To my moderate delight, they haven't been horrendous... But there have been a few.

As I consider my recent adventures in intonation, one leapt to mind as an opportunity for growth.

I had just coded a particularly hairy invoice and sent it along to no fewer than thirty managers for their timely review and approval. After fielding a couple of "I'm not sure this belongs to me?" e-mails from individuals who didn't read the message all the way to the bottom (Yes, dear, it's a $1,500.00 invoice. No, dear, the entire amount isn't going against your project. If you open the invoice, you'll see that there are lots of projects on there... only one is yours.), I felt as though I had gotten through the situation like a champ and was ready to move on to the next adventure.

Then the message dinged through.

"I need backup. What is being shipped against my project for over $800. This is ridiculus."

Instead of requesting information, this individual immediately went to an offensive, frustrated place.

My immediate response - notable at this point is my exhaustion from having a new houseguest who needs attention during the wee hours and from being on-guard for noises of mischief (or worried about mischeif I may be missing while out of the house) at all hours of the day - was to become defensive, and to fight frustration with frustration.

However, from some deep pit in my soul (probably where all the Christmas magic lives during the summer months), I pulled from a reserve of calm and crafted a response that informed without being patronizing, and stayed humorous without being airheaded.

It was a work of art.

And it was completely disregarded, and I ended up having to move the charges anyway because the Project Manager was a doody head.

But...

I know I did my part.

Besides - I've got to keep practicing with stubborn folk.

Because someone else in my life isn't going to learn his manners on his own, either.