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How much is that dorgie in the window...? WARNING: Long Post!
federica
Seeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
I promised I would post a thread, (If anyone is interested) on the aspect of having dogs as pets, in light of my recent training course to be a 'Dog Listener'...
I learnt many extremely fascinating things, and now view dogs in an entirely different light. What I learnt was revealing, informative and stunningly logical, and has really expanded my opinion of our 'best friend'...
The presenter of the Course is a woman called Jan Fennell who has spent a very long time raising, breeding and showing Springer Spaniels but who after a while, was convinced that conventional methods of training were at times austere and at others downright cruel. She began to try other ways of getting dogs to co-operate rather than to obey... She knew when she met Monty Roberts (the Man who listens to Horses) that she was onto something...
he had been implementing his method of working with horses, and joining up for a long time, having also come to the attention of our own Queen her in the UK who as many will know is not only a horse lover, but owns many herself, an she also adores dogs....
He explained to Jan that when you present something that goes against the norm you get:
• Resistance
• Attack
• Ridicule
• Incredulity – “But we’ve always done it this way!”
Jan began to closely observe the behaviour or wild wolves. Even today, she is closely associated with the detailed and exhaustive study of the wolf packs re-introduced to Yellowstone Park, after they were hunted and exterminated by all and sundry. These people believed that the wolf was an unnecessary and aggressive predator that would ruin all the efforts of those wishing to maintain Yellowstone Park as an idyllic and peaceful place for animals to roam in safety.
It doesn't need saying that of course, they were disastrously mistaken....
Jan Fennell is now a respected adviser and authority on the wild wolf. She now visits the Park at least twice a year, to see progress and events at first hand....
This is a brief summary and basic premise of what she teaches.
A 'Pack Leader, or Alpha:
Protects, provides, produces, teaches, is a role model, directs and rules a pack.
Do we obtain a pet and expect our dogs do any of these?
So.... why do we give them these responsibilities?
When we ‘humanise’ dog traits, or impose our emotions on them, or assume they are soooo like us/are our babies/understand everything we say,
What we are actually doing ist –
We are recognising Dog Behaviour in ourselves.
If our dog were in the wild, it would become established as a member of a pack. Depending on its temperament, attitude, age, sex and physical stamina – but above all – it’s Presence – it would find its level in the pack, or at least, be shown it. (By the way, size has nothing to do with any of this. This is why there are Chihuahuas who dominate great Danes. Easily!)That’s how wild dogs find their comfort zone.
We remove that comfort, and unconsciously give our dog the role of leader. Some dogs seem equipped for this, and actually become very bolshy and dominant. Others are nervous wrecks, because it’s actually the last thing they want, and a role they are very definitely neither comfortable with, nor cut out for.
But notwithstanding this, dogs KNOW there HAS to be Leadership, or the Pack will lose cohesion, direction and security.
We make the dog leader in a World it doesn’t Understand.
And when a dog fails to be the pet we would love to own – we blame the dog’s temperament, attitude, character, or even, the breed. But we very seldom look to ourselves.
‘Fido’ is just a name we give to our pet. But in our mind, it’s about as removed from a Wolf as our hamster is.
We then have the breed, but this too has been so messed about with, that breeds all seem to have singular specific problems with their physiognomy or health….
We then have the dog…. (Many feral dogs, allowed to continue unabated, will return to having physical attributes and likenesses to wolves…. It’s the best natural design there is!) …..Who is only about 100,000 years removed from the wolf…. Dingos, jackals, coyotes…. They're all spin-offs….)
And yet we have taken the wolf out of its natural environment, changed its appearance in as many ways as you could imagine, and expect it to live in ours, and to adapt. A good three-quarter of the breeds we have created are not being used for the original design purpose. And as a race, we have evolved and moved forward from a basic state, to a higher, more intellectual state. We no longer go to the forest to hunt for our food, we go to Tesco’s. Yet we expect the dog to have adapted with us and along side us.
It can’t happen. It’s a different species altogether.
We have access to some of the most extraordinary and remote places, and a view of amazing, unbelievable animals. Thanks to Nature programmes and documentaries, we marvel at the strange, weird and wonderful creatures of the deep, and watch how animals live in the wild, respecting them, wanting to preserve them, study them and save them from our own idiocy, at all costs.
Yet we have one living in our midst that we have utterly and completely, systematically screwed up! If we were to just step back and observe what a wonderful and unique companion we have, we would witness Nature at work on our very doorstep!
so our dogs do their best to function in an alien environment, and to co-exist with a stubborn, uncooperative, obstinate, ignorant and occasionally hostile species.
And so the confusion begins...
Put simply, the question should not be; “What is my dog doing, when it (*fill in appropriate behaviour*) ?”
It should be: “What do I do now….?”
Dog Psychology - Understanding precisely what your dog is thinking, doing and needing is the basics that will change your life for ever. guaranteed.
.
Dog training (Human psychology - that is, ‘sit’, ‘stay’, ‘heel’, ‘down’, ‘come’….) is excellent, and at times, it is necessary, not to say vital. But it’s the icing on the cake.
First, you need your cake…..
I learnt many extremely fascinating things, and now view dogs in an entirely different light. What I learnt was revealing, informative and stunningly logical, and has really expanded my opinion of our 'best friend'...
The presenter of the Course is a woman called Jan Fennell who has spent a very long time raising, breeding and showing Springer Spaniels but who after a while, was convinced that conventional methods of training were at times austere and at others downright cruel. She began to try other ways of getting dogs to co-operate rather than to obey... She knew when she met Monty Roberts (the Man who listens to Horses) that she was onto something...
he had been implementing his method of working with horses, and joining up for a long time, having also come to the attention of our own Queen her in the UK who as many will know is not only a horse lover, but owns many herself, an she also adores dogs....
He explained to Jan that when you present something that goes against the norm you get:
• Resistance
• Attack
• Ridicule
• Incredulity – “But we’ve always done it this way!”
Jan began to closely observe the behaviour or wild wolves. Even today, she is closely associated with the detailed and exhaustive study of the wolf packs re-introduced to Yellowstone Park, after they were hunted and exterminated by all and sundry. These people believed that the wolf was an unnecessary and aggressive predator that would ruin all the efforts of those wishing to maintain Yellowstone Park as an idyllic and peaceful place for animals to roam in safety.
It doesn't need saying that of course, they were disastrously mistaken....
Jan Fennell is now a respected adviser and authority on the wild wolf. She now visits the Park at least twice a year, to see progress and events at first hand....
This is a brief summary and basic premise of what she teaches.
A 'Pack Leader, or Alpha:
Protects, provides, produces, teaches, is a role model, directs and rules a pack.
Do we obtain a pet and expect our dogs do any of these?
So.... why do we give them these responsibilities?
When we ‘humanise’ dog traits, or impose our emotions on them, or assume they are soooo like us/are our babies/understand everything we say,
What we are actually doing ist –
We are recognising Dog Behaviour in ourselves.
If our dog were in the wild, it would become established as a member of a pack. Depending on its temperament, attitude, age, sex and physical stamina – but above all – it’s Presence – it would find its level in the pack, or at least, be shown it. (By the way, size has nothing to do with any of this. This is why there are Chihuahuas who dominate great Danes. Easily!)That’s how wild dogs find their comfort zone.
We remove that comfort, and unconsciously give our dog the role of leader. Some dogs seem equipped for this, and actually become very bolshy and dominant. Others are nervous wrecks, because it’s actually the last thing they want, and a role they are very definitely neither comfortable with, nor cut out for.
But notwithstanding this, dogs KNOW there HAS to be Leadership, or the Pack will lose cohesion, direction and security.
We make the dog leader in a World it doesn’t Understand.
And when a dog fails to be the pet we would love to own – we blame the dog’s temperament, attitude, character, or even, the breed. But we very seldom look to ourselves.
‘Fido’ is just a name we give to our pet. But in our mind, it’s about as removed from a Wolf as our hamster is.
We then have the breed, but this too has been so messed about with, that breeds all seem to have singular specific problems with their physiognomy or health….
We then have the dog…. (Many feral dogs, allowed to continue unabated, will return to having physical attributes and likenesses to wolves…. It’s the best natural design there is!) …..Who is only about 100,000 years removed from the wolf…. Dingos, jackals, coyotes…. They're all spin-offs….)
And yet we have taken the wolf out of its natural environment, changed its appearance in as many ways as you could imagine, and expect it to live in ours, and to adapt. A good three-quarter of the breeds we have created are not being used for the original design purpose. And as a race, we have evolved and moved forward from a basic state, to a higher, more intellectual state. We no longer go to the forest to hunt for our food, we go to Tesco’s. Yet we expect the dog to have adapted with us and along side us.
It can’t happen. It’s a different species altogether.
We have access to some of the most extraordinary and remote places, and a view of amazing, unbelievable animals. Thanks to Nature programmes and documentaries, we marvel at the strange, weird and wonderful creatures of the deep, and watch how animals live in the wild, respecting them, wanting to preserve them, study them and save them from our own idiocy, at all costs.
Yet we have one living in our midst that we have utterly and completely, systematically screwed up! If we were to just step back and observe what a wonderful and unique companion we have, we would witness Nature at work on our very doorstep!
so our dogs do their best to function in an alien environment, and to co-exist with a stubborn, uncooperative, obstinate, ignorant and occasionally hostile species.
And so the confusion begins...
Put simply, the question should not be; “What is my dog doing, when it (*fill in appropriate behaviour*) ?”
It should be: “What do I do now….?”
Dog Psychology - Understanding precisely what your dog is thinking, doing and needing is the basics that will change your life for ever. guaranteed.
.
Dog training (Human psychology - that is, ‘sit’, ‘stay’, ‘heel’, ‘down’, ‘come’….) is excellent, and at times, it is necessary, not to say vital. But it’s the icing on the cake.
First, you need your cake…..
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