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Add Values to increase your dog's Happiness.
Deepen communication between you and your dog through...
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Love, Peace, Respect,
Understanding, Trust, and Freedom.
Dog training so simple it makes sense to kids.
by Sherry Clark
We raise our families well.
Well, we do.
We meet the needs of our clients, we understand what steps to take to change dog behavior, and we modify our approach to accommodate unique situations.
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Do we teach the same way?
Of course not.
We're individuals with different beliefs, upbringings, mentors, and choices. Our modalities and techniques are influenced by many factors.
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As trainers, we use the techniques we're most comfortable with, then teach our clients how to replicate them. Between science, psychology and other sources of information, there's a lot of language to share with clients.
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But something is missing...
There is a gap between modalities, what clients want, and dogs need.
We need another level of language. A language that can stand the test of time. A fluid language that spans diverse cultures. A vocabulary in which we don't need to change as science evolves.
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Values as a filter for techniques.
Values are not new to dog training.
They're building blocks so natural that even children use them to communicate with animals. Labeling them and inserting them into our approach help filter the science and evidence based techniques to increase the most important aspects of life.
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I structure dog training as:
Happiness
is top level goal.
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Values
Values support happiness.
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Techniques.
Techniques support Values.
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Ask yourself:
What will you have more of...
...once your dog is trained the way you want?
Will you have more...
Love, Peace, Respect,
Understanding, Trust, or Freedom?
How will that increase your Happiness?
This gives them a motivational image in their mind that they can relate to. Now it's easier to imagine what value their dog needs to provide what they want.
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At least, now, the client knows what they want.
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Then your dog:
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​Using the same labels, what value do we think the dog needs more of to counteract what's happening or to improve skills?
​Does adding that value makes sense? That is, does it make sense to us, our client, and the dog?
Examples:
If Trixie is shut-down from a previous life, she could use some Love. We'll concentrate on exercises that increase love and bonding.
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If Jake is over-energetic and bouncing off the walls, he could use some Peace. We'll practice calming and relaxation exercises. Or, perhaps Jake will experience more peace by engaging in high-energy sport-dog training. It's freedom choice.
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If Daisy is guarding her food, she needs some Respect so we don't cause her to be uncomfortable and bite. We'll work on providing basic needs, two way boundaries, trust and possible underlying conditions.
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If Sandy hides during fireworks, she could use some Understanding about what noise is. She'll learn noise is not something worth being afraid of.
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More examples:
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If Fluffy is afraid of humans, we'll help her build Trust. We'll work on confidence building, independence and prove to her that not all humans are bad.
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If Rex is annoyed and rebelling because of so many rules, we'll teach him to say yes and no. This can give him the Freedom to choose. Now he has a say in many of his activities, toys, trails to hike and flavors of food to eat. This may help him be more willing to follow our rules.
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If Buddy has a sad expression, we'll take the time to check all possible underlying conditions. We'll make sure all values (the components of happiness) are part of his life. Maybe he just wants his toy. Maybe it's physical, emotional or neurological. If our sights are on increasing Happiness all avenues are open as long as the technique we choose increases our top-level goal of happiness.
Thinking in values, is natural. You do this every day.
Our mind takes a different path to understand the dogs mind, when we put values as top priority.​
Personally, when I think of values before methods, my thought patterns change. It's as if a door opens into the biggest world of information I've ever seen. I jump over science, look at what 's important to the humans, look back at science to create techniques that match goals, values, and meet the dogs needs. With a little practice, it's an easy path to travel.
Clients caught on and quickly thought of their own ideas to help their dogs. After all, the client knows their dog better than we do. By thinking in values, training became more meaningful.
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Can it improve relationships?
Maybe families will understand dogs better.
Beginning the conversation by encouraging you to think about what your dog needs, gives you control over the process. The more involved you are the more successful your dogs will be.
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Maybe dogs will feel more connected.
If our dog happiness and well-being, is important to us, values is a path to that goal. I believe dogs can be more engaged in our lifestyle when their needs are met.
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Maybe we'll use the language of well-being more.
Maybe we’ll wonder about what Respect means to our dog. We may disagree about the meaning of Peace, Understanding, Trust, and Freedom,. We probably have a thousand definitions of what Love is, and we may choose to split Happiness into different components.​
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I say that’s better than arguing about all the rough edges in life. It gives us a common language, a reason to talk and explore each other’s personal definitions and successes without submitting to the us and them paradigm.​​​
