Norah Jones Wrote a Song Your Scent Work Dog Wants You to Listen to.

Independence & teamwork. The buzz words of the scent work world. I and countless others have written or presented on both topics. When I mingle with a group of scent work folks and their dogs, I get the sense that most of us believe we have lovingly and purposefully (and/or carefully & skillfully) built a foundation around those concepts. Yet, like erecting a house over sacred burial grounds, we may have built something that angers the scent work spirits, dooming ourselves to torment, and dashing our hopes for scent work success!

Despair not! Fortunately, our partners are dogs. They are waiting – patient-ish-ly – for us to recognize our folly and to raze the house to the ground and reunite with the concepts of independence and teamwork, concepts that don’t confine a partnership, but expand it infinitely. They are waiting for us to build these concepts into our hearts, where we will remain connected to them, alive through them and guided by them; able to partner with our dogs to grow and create in spirit and in practice. Somebody go back to 1982 and tell Craig T. Nelson this! (Poltergeist… watch Poltergeist)

I highly recommend listening to this song after preparing yourself with the imagery of your dog as the narrator. Imagine a melancholy dog, hoping his handler understands what he wants and needs.

The Fall

Here are the lyrics to the song in its entirety:

After the Fall by Norah Jones

I never told you about the summer
Everyday was changing
Only photographs
But life goes on
In your mind so warm

Out on my own now
And I like the way it feels
You couldn’t come through
And I’m too far gone

After the fall
Do you still want it all?

You never told me about the winter
Everyday was changing
But I remember
But life went on
In my mind so cold

Out on your own now
Do you like the way it feels?
Didn’t I come through?
You were too far gone

After the fall
I still want it all

Let’s Break it Down

Try reading the lyrics like this:

I (the dog) never told you about the summer (something was not right with us as a team, but I figured you could tell)
Everyday was changing (there were lots of behavior signs I was giving you)
Only photographs (it felt like we weren’t communicating in real time)
But life goes on (shit happens)
In your mind so warm (but you seem to think everything’s just peachy)

Out on my own now (able to work independently)
And I like the way it feels (I’m a joyful dog)
You couldn’t come through (whoops, you’re trying to control me, not support me)
And I’m too far gone (I want joyful searching, you don’t seem to get it. Byeeeeee!)

After the fall (yikes, that search felt awful and seemed to go on forever and we didn’t feel like a team)
Do you still want it all? (are you up for the hard work of understanding me and supporting my independent efforts, as well as being a productive member of the team when necessary? Cuz, I can’t tell.)

You never told me about the winter (whoa, seems like you had this plan for our teamwork, but not with my needs in mind)
Everyday was changing (it’s not happening all at once, so maybe you think it’s not a huge deal)
But I remember (I know what you were like before all these competitions, and pressure to stack up to other teams, back when you believed in independence and teamwork with my needs in mind)
But life went on (again, shit happens)
In my mind so cold (it’s a real bummer, man)

Out on your own now (Huh. You’re running the show now, like I’m not a real, living being; more like I’m a metal detector. You’re bowling me at objects, you’re ahead of me half the time, the leash being the only reason I don’t run away)
Do you like the way it feels (you look strained, desperate, panicked, confused, frustrated, defeated… it’s not fun, is it?)
Didn’t I come through? (I’m pretty sure I showed you where the hide was…)
You were too far gone (You just pulled me off the hide. Yikes.)

After the fall (Oof, another doozy of a search)
I still want it all (You are MY human, I don’t care if things are a bit messed up between us in the independence and teamwork departments. If you are up to keep trying, I’m right there with you. Let’s do our best. Let’s keep going, we can do this)

Reunited And It Feels So Good

As sad as this song can be, it is ultimately hopeful. I have never met a dog who can’t have fun doing scent work – if you care enough to play the way he’d like to play. A joyful partnership can occur in your own living room. It can happen at a park with some scent work friends. It doesn’t need to be at a competition.

For those of you who really love competing, ask yourself what it feels like to “fall”, to fail your dog. If you’ve never had a search like this, imagine what it could be like. Now ask yourself, “what is worth me failing my dog in ____ way?” Start filling in the blank with all the ways you could abuse the partnership and check with yourself on a gut level if you could stomach failing your dog in those ways (hint: even a non-working dog is not at fault in a search – you, as the partner, have ways to connect with the dog and to build back the agreement to work). I hope you will find that no ribbon, no placement, no search, no hide is worth failing your dog by turning your dog into a tool and turning yourself against your dog. If you can truly believe this, you may fail some searches, but you will never fail your dog. You will never be “out on your own”. You will never be “too far gone”. You will always “come through” for each other.

Thanks to Norah Jones for being such an evocative artist.

Happy Sniffing!