Image : http://www.flickr.com
A client gave me an article featuring Cesar Milan (a.k.a. The Dog Whisperer) to read. It discusses the criticism Cesar has faced over the past few years and the reason why his approach to dog psychology has been met with such controversy and critics. Because I am Often compared to Cesar Milan and frequently recommend his books and television show to my clients, I feel it would be appropriate to comment on the article and my feelings on Cesar Milan in general. When people compare me to him, my response is a heartfelt "Thank You!" Nothing could be a greater compliment than being compared to someone who has helped so many dogs and their owners worldwide, and has taken the language of dogs and how we can better communicate with them mainstream.
I'll never forget the time I was working with a client and their dog and we came upon an elderly woman who had to be at least in her 80's out walking her dog. When the two dogs met, one tried to establish their role as a leader over the other dog by mounting them. Instead of the usual human reaction to curb this type of behavior because it "wouldn't be appropriate in the human world", the elderly woman explained, "don't worry, he is just asserting his dominance over the other dog, it is normal for dogs to do that." I enthusiastically replied, "you must have been watching the dog whisperer". Of course she replied with a great big "Yes!"
Now, if it wasn't for Cesar Milan bringing these concepts that only a small minority of professional dog trainers, handlers, and owners understood previously, to the masses. How else would someone like that understand their dog's behavior this well or even know where to find out this information? With all the dogs that end up in shelters and get euthanized because of the lack of understanding on the part of humans, (almost all of them!) wouldn't it seem his message will only benefit dogs as a whole? That is why I never understood those who strongly oppose Cesar Milan and his ways. Well, actually I do understand because I experience this resistance sometimes as well.
People like Cesar, me, and others who are able to see and promote the truth and reality of dogs force people to have to examine who they are as humans to directly understand how it is affecting their dog's behavior. The reason this is difficult for some is because dogs are part of our lives in modern society because they give us what we can't get out of humans. Basically they fill a void within our psychology. Plain and simple. That is the reason why dogs are so great and we can bond and connect with them so well and naturally. We have coexisted for so long they have become part of our existence.
Dogs are the only animal who's natural habitat is exactly the same as humans...Think about that. The hard part in all this is being able to recognize what we are trying to compensate for, and differentiating what is actually the dog's problems and what is actually our psychology getting in the way of our dog's understanding of the role we need to play as understanding and balanced leaders in their lives. Unless you have gone through many years of psychotherapy or are naturally born to see yourself at face value (not an easy task) this can be an uncomfortable process. I should know because as a human I had to go through the process myself with my own dogs and continue to grow with each new dog I meet.
We as humans are programmed to have a strong sense of self. We are constantly protecting this sense of self. It doesn't matter how many issues we may have, to our "self", we are who we are and there is nothing wrong with us in our eyes despite what everyone around us may observe and see. If we were to think we needed improvement, then our whole concept of who we are will fall apart. The problem with this idea is that everyone, no matter who they are, can improve on themselves in some aspect of their psychology by recognizing who they really are and pinpointing their deficiencies.
So why isn't everyone in therapy and running around happy and free like the Zen masters? Because by recognizing our flaws, we have to undo the false sense of who we are to do this. Who likes criticism? Not many people do. So we remain "who we are" and find people to surround us who fit into our "way of being" that is most comfortable despite how it may or may not work for us. This is how we make friends, find lovers, and choose how we live. In the human world this suits us well and works perfectly fine for many. In the dog world however, there is no lying or what we call in the psychology field masking. Everything is at face value within the pack, dogs cannot lie to themselves, trick one another, or pretend to be something they are not. They are who they are.
Because we cannot project human psychological values on our dogs (even though we try our hardest), when communicating with dogs we have to operate on the level of honesty very few humans feel comfortable conducting themselves on. Not only do I use my degree in human psychology daily, but I have actually helped clients discover things within themselves unrelated to their dogs which have helped them in their personal, non-dog lives! Not to get terribly Freudian here but it has been my experience that those who understand themselves and human nature the most, tend to have an easier time in understanding how they are contibuting to their pet's issues and how to change this to help their dog problems.
I find it of great importance to add; No one is ever a bad person or dog owner for not understanding their dogs. I will be the first to tell you that most people who have dogs think more on an anthropomorphic level (placing human characteristics on animals) than on a level of reality based on a dogs natural instincts and psychology. Anthropomorphic thinking stems from a wanting to love, relate, and bond with our animals not because we don't care. What happens with some dogs is this energy is misinterpreted as a weak energy or lack of understanding because certain dogs don't sense we know who they are as they know a real dog would. By seeing ourselves and our dogs for things truly are, we are creating the energy of understanding I frequently speak of. We now come across as a self-aware and confident leader with an energy to be respected, not taken advantage of. This is what The Dog Whisperer, myself, actual dogs, and others utilize and promote. Those who disagree the most with these ideas seem to be unsuccessful trainers who are jealous our threatened by our abilities and people who can't stop treating their dogs like children no matter what you tell them. Who's issues are those???
http://www.thecaninecounselor.com
Tags : Haurex Verus Panerai http://austinlaudenslager.journalspace.com/ http://garduweb.com/tamelamacgillivray/
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น