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Learning to Open Your Mind Your relationship with your dog is a valuable asset in your life. Science is just starting to realize that our animal companions help us to relax and endure the ever increasing levels of stress in our lives. I was talking with a friend of mine about this and how therapy dogs that visit sick people have remarkable results in helping those patients with their condition, all of which is being scientifically proven daily. And my friend said, "I know all that's great. But if my dog is supposed to relieve all this stress, why is it that there are times when my best friend just seems to add to that stress, not alleviate it?" I responded by saying that I think it's all about learning to communicate with your dog. When I refer to this type of learning, it's not about the traditional classroom where you know memorize things and wonder if the teacher will put it on the final. To me learning is the ability to remember a time when you were insatiably curious. For example, when you were a child and your parents had a birthday or a Christmas present for you and they kept it all wrapped up and hidden somewhere. You knew it was there in the closet waiting for you, and maybe you snuck in and you held that present and you thought 'what's in here? I gotta find out.' You shook it and you began to imagine what you could do with this wonderful gift that was right here in front of you. Or when you were a child, maybe it was the first time you saw that brilliant flash of color fly right by you. You saw your first butterfly and you looked at it with wide open wonder and you thought 'oh my gosh, what is that?' and the world just seemed a mysterious and wonderful place. You see, as far as I can tell, learning is about the ability to open your mind completely. To me that's the way it really works. Now let's solve your canine problem. |
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Obedience Training Center: For more information on dog training theory and an understanding on how your dog learns, review our Basic Orientation Book. *Students, now available on-line the new: |
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Introduction - Learning to Open Your Mind |