Just Stop…
Stop it! No, thats not a new command to teach your dog. Its what we need to do when we are taken over by our own human instincts in terms of misinterpreting our dogs behavior and acting on our feelings instead of a dog’s reality at times when we must display a level of self-awareness when interacting with potentially problematic dogs. When we go into that autopilot mode, we must asess where we end and our dogs begin. As I always say, it feels too good not to do this, we’re only human. It is in our nature to do this when living with dogs because of their amazing (and ususally harmless) ability to make us misinterpret their behaviors and go by how our dogs make us “feel” as opposed to the reality of their actual existence…
However, when it comes to dogs who have the potential for behavior problems, catching ourselves and not giving in to the illusion dogs at times can present is of utmost importance if you want to be one step ahead of them and curb unwanted problem behaviors.
A balanced dog is quite self-aware. Another dog knows to look for this quality in a leader. They feel it oozing from their core being whenever they are in the presence of someone (or somedog) who posesses this quality. Most humans are lacking this ability according to some dogs… We just do what we do around our dogs without regarding all the things that dogs with certain personality types are constantly keeping track of. Do you really put much thought into walking from one room of the house to the next? We are pretty much on “auto pilot” the majority of the time we are at home coexisting with our pets. This contributes to the confusion in a dog who thinks they are the only ones who are concerend with the flow of life and need to carry that responsibility over to all other aspects of the human environments they share with their owners. I tell my clients that just by being more in tune with what you’re dog is paying attention to, and showing them you regard what they are caring about in life, (for their sake, of course) they can project an energy of understanding their dog will respond to. With this, your dog will feel as if you know what you are doing in a dog’s game of life. Regardless of the method of comunication or training techniques we use towards our dogs.
So next time you want to indulge in your feelings towards your dog…Just stop! And begin to think of the incorrect energy you may be projecting if it is not appropriate to act on those feelings. As I tell everyone, the sooner you develop this skill, the sooner you won’t have to use it.