WHERE DID IT ALL GO RIGHT?
PUP IS ALWAYS RIGHT.
It is worth remembering,
although sometimes you may doubt it, we are smarter than our dogs.
We are more able to adjust our emotions than a dog.
We are more important to our pups than they are to us
and our reactions
to their actions are always felt.
And, the biggest difference is
that pup lives in the moment and we reflect on the past. Pup does not remember why we were angry at a
thing they have done, they just know at a deeper level they like to be with us
more than they like being away from us.
I know none of these
things seem evident at all times or even at any times but it is worth
remembering, because at all times you are the superior being and pup needs to be
in touch with a superior being to allow it to remain happy and calm and
safe. Safety is a lovely gift to be able
to give pup and your pooch will truly be a happier little soul if
you always remember you are more able to control your environment and emotions than
pup can ever hope to be.
If you have a pup that
is locked solid into coming when called in every instance, congratulations and
hopefully this is because you are a happy safe place for pup to want to
be. Lovely.
If you have a pup that sometimes
comes when called, when it has nothing better to do. Congratulations, your pup
does come and does so because it likes you.
On the occasions that it
does not come on command, ensure when you are eventually reunited that the coming
together is a pleasant thing for both you and pup. It doesn’t matter if pup has been chasing,
digging or eating something you don’t like.
It is fine to let pup know that you don’t approve of the action by stern
reprimand while in the act or a sharp corrective lead pull away or your usual
admonishment but that should pass quickly and as soon as pup looks to you or
sits or any of the good things pup knows to do, praise immediately. If pup then does something like walking
beside, sitting or looking, then it has left what it was just doing, it is now being
good and you must acknowledge that appropriately and clearly. Being with you is a constant safe place and
your role as safe place owner is to make that true all the time.
Pup is always right if
it is with you, being with you feels like a good, calm, safe place to be.
I started all this by
saying it is almost impossible to chase and catch a dog. While you are smarter than a dog, you are, in
all likelihood not as cunning. This means that if you have the pup with you or can see the pup as you read
this, pup must at some time and on some level want you to be nearby, to guide it, physically or by command. So you are the owner of a pup that sometimes
returns to you even if that return is the pup allowing you to find it and hold it. The desire to have you near is better for pup
than being away from you.
Pup will always do what
feels best for it, they are selfish like that. Pup does not have the flexible
emotional capacity we do to provide a constant happy place for itself so it
reacts to stimuli and impulse. Pup will
always look for the safest, happiest or most excitingest place to be. While there will be many times we will be
frustrated, disappointed or upset at pup’s choices, we are smarter than pup, we
can control our emotions. We can adjust
our demeanour to ensure when good pup behaviour eventually is displayed, we
reward and calmly encourage it. Pup will
learn togetherness is best.
We can teach pooch our
approval is a lovely and constantly available thing. All pup has to do is be right. All we have to do is reward pup for being
right, no matter how fleeting that moment between other moments may be. Everything is hung on this simple thing. Be a safe place, be rewarding.
The result is calm happiness,
for pup and us.
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