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Functional Part of Family
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Practical Applications and Functional
Part of Family are issues that can be a real bonus for
your companion and your family. I believe there are two popular camps
when it comes to our canine companions. One is that “it’s just a dog” and
the other regards the dog the same as family. I prefer the second for
numerous reasons. Foremost is that since our first encounter with each
other there was a symbiotic relationship that suited both ours and
their need for companionship and a similarity in being gregarious.
Humans, being family/tribal, and dogs, being a social pack, also with
a hierarchy, it was a natural and fortunate relationship for the most
part on our behalf.
Canines offered us some protection and were likely the very first security systems. I used to tell solicitors for security systems that I didn’t need their system: that I raised Rottweilers, which usually ended the solicitations. If not, I offered them the opportunity to test my system of more than one dog.
I believe that somewhere along the line we offered food to keep them with us, thus allowing them to earn a place in our pack. The key word is “earn”! That’s where many families fail with behavior in their pack situation, not realizing our companions do not see us as a family but as a pack. I also believe
the dilemma worsened with Disney type character portrayed as dogs being fluffy, cute, and human like, yet not realizing the innermost needs of our companions, their need to earn a position in our pack. Yet we confuse them by over-feeding, giving unconditional attention, carrying them about as a possession not allowing them to build confidence (actually taking that confidence away), fulfilling our displaced needs without consideration of their true needs. That’s not to say they can’t fulfill those needs also.
I advocate to all my clients that they utilize their family companion’s acute instincts.
I offer to my clients the training of passive protection utilizing the natural
instincts of giving alarm and territorialism. It’s their job; fulfill them with
a job as a functional part of the family. I teach personal protection and it’s
not passive by any sense. But most families don’t have a real need for that anymore,
depending on where you live of course.
Even when requested I thoroughly evaluate
that presumed need. Part of the passive protection is simply teaching the companion
to bark upon command and I don’t say speak, that’s too cute. I posture the dog
at the door, on the street, teaching it too search the house, initially as a
game and then with key words.
Another function I utilize in the area I live is
with swimming pools, of which there are numerous. I advocate allowing the companion
full use of the pool after being trained correctly about individual dynamics
of different pools. It promotes health and longevity in our dogs (exercise).
I then teach the dog to actively respond to a pantomime of a struggling person
in the pool; both children and adults. This is done after teaching dogs to swim
with someone by grabbing the collar and swimming with them. This can be done
with dogs from medium to large size and teaching smaller companions to make a
ruckus to draw attention. This beats a lifesaver that needs to be thrown. There
are many variations of teaching this and must be appropriate for individual dogs
and breeds. Retrievers, Newfoundland’s, German Shepherd, and Rottweilers etc.
can be taught to pull the person or carry a device to that person. This is fun,
very fun training; but needs to be done with expertise so the dog isn’t climbing
on you perhaps causing a drowning.
Written by: Steve Estrada ·"Gone to the Dogs" · June, 2005 |
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