While being raised by wolves would be a pretty thorough introduction to dog mind, in that regard it was my misfortune to be raised by humans who knew nothing about the inner workings of a dog. As a young adult, however, a certain dog found her way into my life. Nola was full of energy, skittish around humans, acted like she wanted to kill most other dogs, and had a tendency to run off into the woods. High drama, to be sure, but a great dog, and for whatever reason – perhaps destiny – we had a bond.
But those little quirks of hers demanded attention. Over time she understood basic obedience, but no matter what I tried I could not help her with her anxiety or her apparent desire to hurt other dogs. At one point I contacted a prominent dog trainer, who told me Nola should be euthanized because of her aggression.
Instead, I did what any dog-loving dog owner would do in this situation. I coped with it.
After about six years, I stumbled upon a different type of training, and for the first time a theory of dog behavior made sense and resonated with me on some core level.
What I read was a way of tapping into a dog’s deepest instincts and seeing the world through their eyes (or, more accurately, feeling the world through their heart). Rather than looking for ways to suppress a dog’s natural energy, the goal was to channel it into obedience behaviors. The theories encompassed the metaphysical as well as the physical.
When I’ve encountered people who seem to know what they’re talking about in that department, I’ve learned to listen. So a few months later I found myself in Vermont with Nola for an intensive, month-long, 7-days-a-week, 8-hours-a-day training course in dogs and in life.
It was an amazing month, to be sure. While I did learn a lot of specific techniques, I also came to an entirely new understanding of how dogs experience the world. Seen through this lens, certain behaviors that had perplexed me suddenly made sense, and I saw how dogs really were never “wrong,” how they were simply responding to the stimulation that the world was giving them. As humans we tend to judge others (both within and outside of our species) through our own prejudices – dogs, on the other hand, while it’s arguable whether or not they can learn the difference between right and wrong (the same can probably be said for humans, actually), they definitely know what feels right, and what feels, well, not-quite-so-right.
It’s through this understanding, and the way it changes our interaction with our dogs, that our dogs not only become more obedient, but also they become attracted and connected to us, because we know the best ways to make them feel good, relieved of stress, and satiated at the deepest level.
By the end of my apprenticeship, things had clicked into place. Techniques were cemented, as was a new way of seeing the world. I had worked with dogs of all shapes and sizes, including Nola. And Nola was much more settled, much more attentive, and much better around other dogs – with the potential to be friendly with almost every dog we encounter. She was, in a word: cured. (Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks.)
Since then I’ve worked with many dogs, at times full-time, and at other times fitting in training around my “day job.” I’m always learning something new from my canine friends and the people who love them. Generally, our dogs always get it – it’s the humans who often need a little more work. But people who are open to looking at their dogs in a new way are successful, both in terms of overcoming issues they were facing with their dogs, but also in learning a way of interacting with their dogs that makes much more sense. Often they also solve some seemingly “human” problems along the way.
So, how about you? How is your relationship to your canine companions? What have you learned from your dog lately? I look forward to sharing with you more about the way that I train dogs, and how transforming your "canine" perspective will help you in the human world as well.
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