August 5th, 2010
Why We Humanize Dogs: A Psychological Review
By Susan Hill
http://www.channelanimal.com
“What’s on Your Dog’s Mind? “Blog Post July 14, 2010
The humanizing of dogs is happening everywhere from TV and film celebrities to local yokels in the US. This is a cultural phenomenon, which seems to be on the rise if one looks at market trends with pet care businesses in the multi-billion dollar range. Women who dress their small dogs in handmade dresses of satin, lace and organza fabrics, dog cologne and dog bling, dog spas, or let them sleep in their beds with heads on pillows. The wealthy couple that buys their Standard Poodles a huge flat screen TV to watch the Dog Channel or Paris Hilton who carries her Chihuahua in a designer handbag. What are these people doing unconsciously to their dogs? Why do they treat them like humans? What motivates people to humanize their dogs to the point that they aren't sure anymore what species they are and are very confused? And at worst case acting out aggressively? The answer lies deep within the psyche of the human mind...
Dogs have always been devoted to humans probably for practical reasons such as obtaining food. It became much easier for survival to follow close behind humans who had weapons and tools for hunting. Dogs are pack animals and are driven by their genetic programming from the wolf to do activities together and at the same time. These traits have made dogs look to man for social interaction and bonding. In exchange dogs provide love and companionship. This has proved to be a successful union of two different species.
“But dogs are the only species of domesticated animals that are not allowed to be who they are and instead expected to be human-like. When a cat kills a bird the natural response is to say, ‘Well it’s a cat and cats kill birds.’ But if a dog kills another animal the reaction is to have the dog put to death because it is labeled ‘aggressive’”, according to Brandon Fouche, Los Angeles dog behaviorist and aggression expert.
In the old days, he says, we didn't see these problems with dog aggression that we frequently see now. “It is our responsibility to give dogs what they need and understand the way they think as direct descendants from the wolf. Aggression is the highest form of communication and is natural in the dog world,” Fouche says. He should know as he has saved the lives of hundreds of aggressive death-row dogs when they were deemed “unable to rehabilitate”. He rewires their minds by reconnecting them to their innate memory of their ancient predatory roots. A sort of neurological reprogramming not unlike NLP, neuro-linguistic-reprogramming.
NLP is scientifically proven to sprout new brain cells which actually form new neural pathways facilitating the ability to perform new tasks. Think of learning a new skill: at first it is difficult but in time it becomes easy. The task requires the growth of brain cells that is why it is important to challenge your dog mentally. A mentally challenged dog is a dog with greater ability to problem-solve and is not as easily stressed.
But what has caused us humans to heap huge expectations upon dogs to be what we want them to be? The answer lies in examining the western mind. Man in the west is for the most part consumed by delusion, greed and hatred. It is not surprising that financial pressures and increased crime have us living in such fear we feel alienated from one another. So that being in the presence of someone who is genuine (a dog) we cling to what we get from our canine friends: connection, love and acceptance. We stop letting them be who they are. We want more love, more devotion and more reassurance that we are indeed lovable, since we are unable to get this from people. We project who we want them to be rather than letting them be themselves.
Buddhist philosophy teaches us that it is our thinking that gets in the way of our ability to experience the world as it is. We walk around often unknowingly projecting what and how we think the world and others are. Most of what we think is false, hasn’t occurred yet or will never happen but we live our lives as if our preconceived ideas are real. And this is the root of all our suffering: wanting things to be other than they are.
The Buddha taught thousands of years ago that if we can quiet our minds and open our hearts as our canine friends do, we could also live our lives from a more authentic place. We could become more like our dog friends not vice versa. As Fouche said, it is our responsibility to become aware of what we are doing to our dogs. We must take the necessary steps to learn how dogs think so that we can communicate with them on a deeper level. We must give them what they need so that they can remember their connection to the wolf, (their true self.) This is what dogs need to be healthy in body and mind.
As humans we have treated dogs as people. But now as aggression is prevalent and more dogs are being euthanized, we need to recognize our part in the mix. We need to stand up and take action to stop the madness and treat dogs like dogs. We need to learn how dogs think. We need to become aware of our affect on others and take responsibility. It is time for us to change how we view dogs. The time is now.