August 17th, 2010
His owner didn't see it coming. The Golden retriever couldn't help himself when he saw the squirrel cross his path. His predatory instincts took over and he immediately bolted to chase the long-tailed rodent. Attached to the dog's neck by the leash the 110 lb woman instantly was catapulted 180 degrees horizontal. It is a comical sight to see. Why anyone would get a dog stronger than they are and try to out muscle him or her is funny. And it happens all the time. I know because I was one of those nutty people.
I started with a dog trainer with all those sit, stay, heel lessons to control my dogs.My dogs never really managed to walk relaxed probably because they weren't subordinate types and had lots of energy. I was only taught how to "correct" a dog through the leash. Thatwas it. When Jody, my Doberman, started biting I was taught to "hang" her. This made theaggression worse because she was fighting for her life. I also was taught to use an "e"collar,which uses a shock to get the dog's attention. She became more excited. Honestly none of this worked. My dogs never learned to respect me with these techniques.
Tools or techniques alone never work. It is really all about your energy and how the dog perceives you. These physical techniques can be avoided by understanding that the way to control a powerful dog (or any dog) is not through physical strength but through directing his mind to pay attention to you. In short it is mind over matter. Dog training,or reward-based training, is unnatural for dogs. I know dog trainers will be upset tohear that remark because they will feel I am saying what they are doing with trainingis invalid. I am not. I am only talking about working with behavioral problems like aggression.I am doing this because it is what dogs need and it is gettingback to what nature intended for our dogs.
What is popular usually is what is the current norm in society but if dog training isso effective then why do we have so many cases of aggression? Why are more dogs on psycho-depressant drugs than ever before in dog's history? And why also is the pet care industry at the 4 Billion dollar mark? These three points in question are related to one central premise: man uses human psychology to attempt to control dogs and in doingso has interfered with dog's nature.
By forcing dogs to respond to how people think through training "sit, stay, come andheel" dogs are being forced to do something unnatural for them. Dogs who are subordinate types will do anything you ask but what happens when you get an alpha ora beta dog? They are going to take over control by all that non-sense. It is notnatural for a dog to "sit" when he doesn't want to nor is it natural for a dog to"stay" away from his pack. Nature tells a dog to always remain with his pack. That is hard wired into his DNA. To have a dog stay away from his owner creates stress fora dog. And a dog will sit when he is tired. What is the point of having your dog "sit"anyway? We teach them to because that is what we always have done with dogs to get them to be "trained" but what is it you really want with your dog? To have them listen to youand do what you want, right?Dogs are smarter than we realize and keeping them within the confines of traditional dog training commands is limiting to their canine intelligence. Why not challenge your dog to utilize his brainpower by harnessing his natural language, dog behavior? We have always used dog training commands to work with dogs but why not go beyond that and communicate with them on a deeper level?Big dogs' unruly behavior is grander expression of how we try to control our dogs. Use the power ofthe dog's mind to control your dog, the way nature intended it.
Susan Hill is a dog behaviorist in Los Angeles, CA. For more information please visit: http://www.canineminds.com You may fill out the "contact Susan" form at the top of the home page or send an email to: susan@channelanimal.com
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