Instead I found an insightful book filled with observations regarding dogs. This book is filled with tips on allowing your dog to find their inner dog. Also about how humans have lost their inner instincts for the natural world. Having come from Corporate America myself, I have to agree with his observations on how humans can control the superficial many times, but we have a harder time with beings who can sense what is real and truthful. Many times our inner insecurities or negative vibes influence our dogs, because we are their primary leaders (or non leaders). We are the role models that they are most often with.
For this reason, dogs can be a large part of the human growth and experience for people that want dogs and to provide the best possible life for dogs. Humans can behaviorally modify themselves in order to benefit others. Dogs are a great mirror for this. How well are you understanding the needs of others, and how well do you really understand what you need to provide?
As part of a dog owner's education, this book could be very beneficial to dog owners. It has always been my contention that you need both sides in order to get the most out of a dog. One is the training, but the other is understanding how to modify or bring out behaviors. Cesar is very much on the more naturalist behavior side, but he does also confer with trainers for the more formal training side. I like his apparent open mind about anything. Additionally I admire how he understands dogs on the natural level.
One criticism that many trainers and behaviorists constantly harp on regarding Cesar is that the energy he talks about is mumbo jumbo that nobody can duplicate. However, think about it, humans can tell the difference between someone who is calm, passive aggressive, negative, volatile, type A personality, energetic, or mellow. People with training are able to understand dogs on their level as well. Humans may not choose to, but we are all capable of modifying our behavior for different scenarios. Think how we deal with people at work, family, our best friends, acquaintances, and so on.
This is the energy and power that can be tapped into for the benefit of our dogs. Some people choose not to tap into this, or practice this over and over again. Some people just need to practice in order to crest the learning curve that is any new skill attempted. In any case, it is not as mystical or unobtainable as some would have you believe. Many times I counsel clients to take deep breathes when getting used to something, using equipment that will make the humans feel safer, doing shoulder rolls, or making less jerky movement that have no meaning to the dog or the undesired meaning for the dog. A human can learn how to change their behavior to not only help their dog, but to improve their overall life in many different aspects.
Here are some quotes that I found in Cesar's book and the explanations plus examples that follow should make it easier for inexperienced dog owners to grasp the concepts:
"Every time you humanize your dog and expect him to fulfill the position of an absent child, lover, friend or parent in your life, you are putting unrealistic expectations on him." Cesar Millan in Be The Pack Leader page 9
"Because we humans have the amazing power to rationalize, we can find excuses for all sorts of behavior that would be unacceptable in the natural world. The miracle of dogs is they are four-legged mirrors---and when it comes to us, they never lie. I try to teach my clients how to see their own dysfunction in the mirror of their dogs' behavior." Cesar Millan in Be The Pack Leader page 174
"As long as I address and fulfill all the animal-dog needs first, the pit bull side of him will not surface in a negative fashion" (Cesar talking about Daddy and breed as it relates to dogs) "But when those needs aren't fulfilled in a dog, breed can and often does become a factor in his physical and psychological responses to the stresses of life, and the pent-up energy that often follows.
The DNA of a dog's breed contains part of her "instruction manual", so to speak. Your dog's breed is made up of what she was built for, so the more purebred she is, the more likely she will draw on the characteristics of her breed in order to release excess energy and frustration." Cesar Millan in Be The Pack Leader page 126
"Interestingly, animals can and do trick each other at times. Being able to deceive another animal has been selected across many species as a trait that greatly assists in survival. Harvard ethologist Marc D. Hauser gives many examples of deception in the animal kingdom in Wild Minds, such as birds in the rain forests of Peru that use "false alarms" to distract competitors away from food in order to claim it; mantis shrimp that pretend to be tough during their vulnerable molting periods; nesting plovers that fake injury in order to lure predators away from their nests" Cesar Millan in Be The Pack Leader page 173
No one is more surprised at me that how much I could go on and on about valuable information that can bring understanding about he human side of the dog training equation, as well as understanding of a dog's true needs and desires that humans can fulfill even if the ways are modified for our environment.
It is not that I did not see any value in Cesar before. I truly did appreciate that he brought his overall philosophy about exercise, discipline and affection. Additionally, the examples that were video taped are ones that are not often or easily seen. Cesar has a compassion for dogs and owners that I truly admire, but I always understood these were made for television. Reading his book brought more depth to the edited cases made for TV.
Dog owners will learn to understand more about themselves and how they may be affecting their dog(s) by reading this book. Not really what I was expecting from the title of the book, but perhaps exactly what I should have been expecting.
Just to prove I am not a wide eyed television fanatic that has in fact been unquestioning about Cesar OR that I do not have some wishes regarding what he shows on television, you can follow other posts just by selecting the "Cesar Millan" tag.
http://www.mannerlymutts.com/
http://mannerlymutts.blogspot.com/
mannerly_mutt@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment