pack leader and dog whisperer make for a special bond between man and dog

They look so innocent. 

Becoming a dog whisperer doesn't happen over night.  As humans we are used to communicating everything through speech or the written word.  Our energy is important but people are less perceptive than dogs in reference to our energy.  We may be able to to pretend we are strong and assertive to humans and they might to for it, but our dogs can sense what is behind the facade.  If our energy is not calm-assertive our dogs will know right away and will not willingly follow as part of your pack.  But humans may believe what you tell them.  We all have been fooled by someone who was a smooth talker that later turned out to be a cheat or a fraud. 

Our dogs can read between the lines better than we can but we have the potential to use our intuition more.  We have instincts and senses that we have let go dormant for years.  As we evolved we learned to trust our senses less and less and it often has left us vulnerable to the "smooth talkers".  But as we become a better, stronger pack leader we will be projecting calm-assertive energy as well as developing our intuition.  As pack leader we will be using our intuition to assess the health and energy of our dogs.  They won't be able to tell us what is wrong.  But the more we get in tune with our pack and our dog training becomes more of a partnership, we will be able to tell things about our dogs that no one else would ever know. 

I could see something wrong with one of my dogs several years before she died.  I had spent a great deal of time with her for 5 or 6 years and I could tell if something was wrong.  The problems arise when our special bond with our dog can not be matched by the vet.  I noticed one of her eyes seemed to be drooping or bulging out and I took her to the doctor right away.  They assured me that it was nothing and it was normal for Labradors and it was totally fine. 
I knew it wasn't totally fine had her checked several times and everyone seem to placate me but never really give me a good answer.  I don't think modern medicine can account for intuition and vets tend to see most people as overly nervous about their dogs.  But about a year or two later the vet said it may be glaucoma in her eye and started her on daily eye drops.  This went on for a few years and I knew it wasn't working and that something just wasn't right  but I deferred to the doctors expertise.  I have sense changed my philosophy on that with my other dogs and cats. 

More to the story here. 



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What we can learn about instincts from our dogs.

Instinct is in animals is similar to what we call intuition in humans.  Our dogs operate on instinct that has been part of their evolution and they don’t question it.  Dogs can sense something is going wrong or when a person is in a bad mood or if someone is nervous.  Dogs had to rely on their instinct to survive in the wild before they became more domesticated.  However, dogs still use there “intuition” or instinct to sense what is going on around them.  They can tell what kind of energy is in the air at that moment.  The calm-assertive energy given off by a good pack leader is the energy that dogs naturally follow.  They are drawn to this energy because this was the energy of their pack leaders when they were living as wolves in the wild. 

Dogs are always tuned in to the alpha dog, or pack leader.  They are continually assessing their energy state and will automatically act according the energy they sense from the pack leader.  The structure of the pack is necessary for survival and since dogs don’t have the luxury of talking, they have to communicate in much more subtle ways. Training dogs or a pack of dogs requires constant monitoring of the energy we are projecting. 

If you are training your dog but you do not maintain the proper calm-assertive energy level dogs will be nervous and uncomfortable around you.  They will be more likely to act out or just be more difficult to train.  Dogs naturally have a lack of trust for anyone or anything with a nervous, frustrated or angry demeanor. 

Humans have learned to communicate in other ways often to our detriment.  We have learned to push our intuition to the side in many cases.  Of course there are certain times when it is good to push our fear aside and move forward. In certain cases it is imperative that we push back against our fear, but this is usually when we have an abnormal fear or a fear that is not aproportionate for the level of risk. 

For example if you have a fear of public speaking, it may be a worth while goal to battle that fear and become more comfortable speaking to an audience or classroom.  It would be to your benefit if it was important for your work.  Also overcoming this type of fear will often improve your self esteem. 

However, if we get the message as children that are feelings don’t matter as much as someone else’s or if our feelings are not treated with proper respect from our care givers, we may be suppressing the very important messages from our intuition.  People will even go as far as trying to convince themselves that their intuition about someone or about a certain situation is wrong and will repress the fear. 

Cesar Millan references the book “The Gift of Fear”  by Gavin De Becker when he discusses how energy and intuition can play a vital role in having a well adjusted and stable dog or pack . 

      {De Becker gave an example of how we forget that we have powerful intuition when as he told the story of his friend not selecting a contractor because her dog growled at him.  De Becker said the dog was likely an expert at reading her and she was an expert at reading people without realizing it.  He said the dog was likely just reading her and sensing her concern.  De Becker goes on to say that humans have something dogs do not have and that thing is judgment.  He states that this is what allows us to disregard our intuition unless we can explain it logically.  We tend to honor our intellect rather than our intuition.  We succumb to our judgment and are distracted from reality by our hopes and wishes of how things could or should be in spite of the reality.}

The extra special thing about dogs is how much of a gift they are to us once we realize they are teaching us to become more self aware.  They are letting us know when our energy is out of balance.  All we have to do is pay attention and be willing to get better in touch with our feelings and our energy level.  Most people go through life with no clue what type of energy is ruling their lives or what they are projecting in the world.  (At least until they get a couple dogs.)

Being a good trainer for your dogs and a good pack leader is not only enriching to the lives of our dogs but it helps us become more calm and centered. It is not fair to your dogs if you refuse to open your eyes to how your behavior can have negative or positive consequences on your pack.  

Learn to trust your intuition more and you will be opening the door to a more calm-assertive energy in your life.  Your stress level will also go down and you will create a much greater more loving bond with your dogs. 

If you want to train your dog in the most loving way possible, bond with them in a special way, and never have to punish your dog then you need take a look at the dog whisperer’s DVDs on being a good pack leader.

Why do dogs take so well to Dog Whisperer Methods of training?

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 There are a number of reasons why dogs do well when being trained by a calm and assertive pack leader. The Dog Whisperer way allows us to use the dogs natural strengths to enhance rehabilitation or training. The most obvious as I have mentioned in previous articles is instinct.  The pack mentality has played a very vital role in the amazing evolution and adaptability of the canine species.  Fighting among themselves, hurting each other or running off on their own was a sure way to shorten their lifespan.  Even though dogs do not have the same predators threatening them today, they still have plenty of reasons to follow a good pack leader and they still have the instinctual drive to do as they have done for thousands of years.  

Another major difference between dogs and humans that often can cause training problems, is that dogs live in the moment.  They live more in the present that most humans and they have little capacity or use for holding grudges or looking backward or forward in time.  It is not uncommon for people to get a puppy to fulfill some need of their own rather than to provide the dog with a stable, balanced life.  Of course, this  understandable and the cuteness of puppies is natures way of luring us in before we realize how much work it takes to bring up healthy, stable and well adjusted dog. However, having a puppy is one of the great joys of life so its well worth the effort. But if we start to treat our dogs to much like humans it can lead to a very unbalanced and unstable pack.  





I certainly do believe that dogs have feelings and that they are in tune with our feelings as their master but the philosophy behind the dog whisperer training calls for treating the dogs much more like they would be treated if they were living in a real dog pack. It is a way to stimulate the mind in ways that work with there DNA rather than against it.  

The first and foremost thing a dog needs to do to channel some of their instinctual energy is to get plenty of exercise.  The role of exercise is two fold for the dog whisperer because it is used for more than just exercise.  The walk is a very good way to bond with your dog and to tap into their natural desire to bond with their pack leader.  Dogs used to spend most of their days or nights walking or running in a pack looking for food.  You can see the same behavior in wolves in the wild.   Although desert coyotes seem to be a bit more solitary, at least when they venture into the foot hills of the city.  The most I have ever seen has been a pack of two. 

Walking your dog is like taking an aspirin a day.  The doctors aren't sure why it helps your aches and pains, why exactly how it can be used to prevent heart disease but they just know it is good for you in multiple ways.  The same is true for the walk with your dog and it should be part of your daily routine as often as possible.

More on the Dog Walk for training in the next post. 

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