THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408110156
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Over Easy
SOURCE: Jo-Ann Clegg
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Charlie the Lhasa was not exactly a happy traveler as we headed out the toll road toward the beach last Saturday afternoon.
``Let me get this straight,'' he snorted from the back seat. ``You wake me up in the middle of a nap, pop my eyeballs out of my head trying to brush the tangles out of my hair, harness me up, toss me in the car and tell me that you're going to shrink me and I'm supposed to be thrilled?''
As usual, he was a little confused.
``I didn't say we were going to shrink you, I said that we were going to take you to meet a doggy shrink - a dog psychologist, if you prefer,'' I explained.
``Right,'' he responded. ``You spend your time sitting in front of a computer trying to make money by convincing people that I talk to you and you think I need to see a psychologist?''
``I think it's useless,'' I told Bill. ``This dog is just not going to cooperate.''
``You got that one right,'' the four-footed dust mop snorted from the back seat.
As it turned out, we were both wrong. A couple of minutes in the company of C.W. Meisterfeld, Ph.D., a pioneer in the field of canine psychoanalysis, left Charlie eating out of his hand. Literally.
Meisterfeld is in town this week to attend some seminars and to present one of his own on canine psychology and training. ``Have Couch - Will Travel,'' his flier reads.
If the whole idea sounds either dull or just plain wacko to you, that's only because you haven't met William Meisterfeld yet.
Trust me, if the man can charm Charlie, he can charm anyone. And charm he did, the second they met.
Bill and I were standing outside the Association for Research and Enlightenment with Julie Slobodnjak, one of the sponsors of the California psychologist's local appearance.
Charlie was passing the time checking out passers-by with somewhat less than great interest. Eventually he dropped to the pavement to resume his nap.
A few moments later he jumped up, came to attention and wagged his tail furiously.
Meisterfeld had come out of the building and was on his way toward us. After ignoring dozens of other departing visitors, Charlie made a beeline for the trim middle-aged man.
``How did you do that?'' I asked Meisterfeld as Charlie sat adoringly at his feet and looked adoringly into his eyes. ``Did you make eye contact or what?''
``No,'' he replied, giving all the credit to Charlie. ``It's the sixth sense that dogs have. His heightened sense perception allows him to make judgments about people much faster than humans do.''
``Tell her more,'' Charlie begged. ``She doesn't understand a thing about me, not a thing.''
``Not true,'' I hissed at him. ``I understand a lot more than you think I do.''
For more than an hour Charlie sat beside Meisterfeld as the psychologist and I talked about dog behavior and the problems faced by pets and pet owners in today's world.
Meisterfeld has a lot of concerns about the mental health of today's dogs. He has even more concerns about the worldwide push to ban certain breeds.
``A dog of any breed can be good or bad, depending on how it's treated and how it's trained,'' he said.
Through his seminars he hopes to encourage the practice of gentle, positive training to replace what he sees as the three major problems for dogs today: lack of training, improper training and improper relationships.
In his 35 years of practice he's dealt successfully with everything from a poodle who ate the leather interior of a Rolls-Royce to retrievers who refused to retrieve and any number of dogs who interfere with the relationship between their owners and members of the opposite sex.
As far as Charlie was concerned, Meisterfeld gave him a clean bill of mental health.
``He's very intelligent and has a high will to serve,'' he told me.
``Yeah, but what about her?'' Charlie chimed in.
``You say she carries on conversations with you which she reports in the newspaper?'' Meisterfeld asked.
Charlie nodded.
``Well,'' Meisterfeld said, ``I think you'd better register her for the seminar. That may be one of those improper relationships that we talked about.''
Charlie gave one last adoring look as Meisterfeld tickled just the right spot behind his ears. ``You really do know your stuff,'' the fuzzball told the psychologist. MEMO: William Meisterfeld's seminar will be held Saturday and Sunday at the
Radisson. Topics include hyperactivity, rage and techniques of
psychological dog training. The cost is $139, refundable at the first
break if not satisfied. Call 422-4790 for information. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
A couple of minutes in the company of C.W. Meisterfeld, Ph.D., a
pioneer in the field of canine psychoanalysis, left Charlie the
Lhasa eating out of his hand.
by CNB