Some of the pack at rest - starring Mickey sitting up - one of his tricks, Monty laying down asleep, Snoopy next to him, Tiny Timmy on the windowsill and Patsy at the back in her "own space"!My inspiration to make positive changes to my life with my dogs is completely thanks to Cesar Millan, The Mexican Dog Whisperer who lives in the USA. Having caught a couple of his TV shows, I began to try out his techniques to rehabilitate dogs and train owners, with my pack and much to my delight they are working!
I am a very experienced owner, having had some success at obedience training with Max the Doberman and a few of the Jack Russells - Eddie in particular was good at obedience and agility. As good as they could be when working, I found little advantage in using training techniques with all the dogs together, I mean I couldn't work so many at once, so we were experiencing lots of behaviour that I didn't want and some that I did want but at the wrong times! For example, it was totally crazy whenever I went out, this was always followed by a pack "howling" session, and my return welcomed with barking, crazy running and minor scraps between them. I couldn't have people over easily, especially other dogs, as I didn't know how they would behave - experience told me that to have such a situation would mean chaos, drama, fighting and simply not worth it! Behaviour I did want - the cuddles, games etc, happened whenever they wanted to and I did not have any say in the matter! This even caused Bob (Collie/Russell) to become obsessed with tennis balls, if I came back from shopping without giving him a new ball he would sit and whine at the bag, even after I had showed him it was empty!
Cesar came into my life, via the TV, just in time - when I was ready for help, eager to learn and desperately wanting the dogs to have happy balanced lives with me. I was fed-up with having inter-pack dog problems, with dominance aggression being a key player, situations would arise which I could not deal with and potentially fatal fights between the dogs broke out. This left me with no other option than to re-home one of them, which always greatly saddened me, now I have choices.
I began to actively listen to what he was saying and apply his basic ideas, note that I have enough experience to do this, those who wish to learn how to change their dogs behaviour should consult a professional. I started at the beginning and began to be their Pack Leader, I had to act out this role with vigour at first as it didn't come naturally to me, I was still "humanising" them so it was tricky for me to change my learned behaviour! I led the way in everything from feeding time to walks, to sitting where I wanted - moving them, to claiming the window sills as mine - which until now had "belonged" to the dogs for which the blinds had paid the price, chewed and broken - a great result as now the blinds can recover, after all I bought them! They gradually accepted my new position and a "calm" energy flowed through the pack, this really is a first! Learning how to be calm and assertive at the same time sounds easy, but actually it wasn't for me! It has taken a couple of weeks to master and I do slip up, but when I do slip the pack takes advantage and misbehaves so I am becoming a fast learner!!! Cesar's technique of exercise then discipline, then affection really works and I use this daily.
Dogs live in the now, says Cesar, and he's absolutely right! Being a human I often spend time re-living the past, feeling guilty about things or worrying about the future! I would always think about things that had happened to the dogs in the past and feel bad for them, sorry for them and make up stories of how they must feel about it. As they live in the here and now - they don't do this and therefore are much happier, they don't care what went before - no stories! In this case I am taking my lead from them, by living in the moment, they respect me more and I am much more contented. This living in the "now" enables them to change learned behaviours for new, better ones and build upon existing positive behaviours.
This inspiration led me to purchase a couple of his books, and now I'm really learning so much about myself and my dogs which I know will improve my pack even more. My dream is to walk them altogether, watch this space, or should I say beach!!
Dog psychology is a whole new way of communicating with dogs for me and I have my own evidence that it works if I work it! A great deal of their behavioural issues were actually down to me - my self esteem (or lack of it), my sense of mind - anxious or irritable, my lack of confidence to lead the way and inconsistency all played key roles in unbalancing the pack dynamics and individual personalities. So I need to change, train to be a better owner! I think animal, dog then name now, in tune with them as dogs and not them as humans!
This has led me to my new life with the pack and leading the way by to study dog psychology and behaviour. By combining my experience and formal training I will become a "Canine Life Coach" - as I believe for a dog to be truly balanced and happy he/she does not just need problem behaviour removing (the usual reason for contacting a professional Behaviourist is due to negative issues), dogs need direction from the owner in all their behaviour. So I am all about dogs, promoting clear communication with dogs leading to contented dogs and owners, with this unique bond of trust and relationship.
The bonus is that much of the skills I am learning are changing me for the better to, including my relationships with family and friends - us humans are pack orientated too so it makes sense that it helps with family balance!
Let's hear it for training people and rehabilitating dogs, and the other way round: as I will also be rehabilitating myself, changing my behaviour/thinking patterns, and obedience training a few of mine too - Bob is going for the Kennel Club "Good Citizen Dog Scheme".
Hail Cesar!!!!!!!!!!
I am the "Dog Messenger" - relaying messages between the species of dog and human!
Coming soon daily tips and news from my first study course with the Canine Behaviour Centre.
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