I got a letter from AARP the other day.
They wanted me to join. I am 50.
I wanted to scrawl on the envelope, NOT DEAD YET!
When I turn on the radio, the songs of my youth (such as Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad) are now on "the Oldies" station."
Oldies?
Perhaps.
Now to be clear I listen to new music -- a lot of it. And I will also venture that we have more great musicians alive right now than we have ever had in the history of the world.
But "new" does not always mean better. Sometimes it does, but not always. I am pretty sure the work of Little Wayne will be forgotten long before that of Mozart, Armstrong, Sinatra, and Springsteen.
Of course, a lot of times, the "NEW" is simply the OLD in a new wrapper.
The kids call this "sampling" which sounds so much better than plagiarism.
And, of course, it is not new is it?
When Leonard Bernstein pitched Westside Story, he pitched it short: "It's Romeo and Juliet with Puerto Ricans in New York."
When Steven Spielberg was trying to raise money for his first real movie, he said: "It's Moby Dick.... but with a shark."
When Francis Ford Coppola pitched "Apocalypse Now" he did not waste a lot of time: "It's Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness ... in Vietnam."
So what am I to make of all these folks claiming to be "new and improved" dog trainers? These are the folks ripping off 80-year old techniques which are derived from 150-year old techniques, which were lifted from stuff stolen from the folks who built the pyramids.
I am all for this "new" stuff. But I am not for tossing out the "old" stuff either. You see, it's all the same thing!
But of course this may come as new information to the fuzzy thinkers and instant experts.
Take the anonymous coward who showed up the other day to say he or she thought Cesar Millan's methods were "outdated."
Eh? What? What are his methods?
And what are his methods to do WHAT?
Does this person think Millan is training dogs? He is not.
Does this person think non-associative habituation is outdated? It's not.
Does this person think operant conditional extinction is outdated? It is not.
Does this person think a leash is outdated? It's not.
Does this person think exercise is outdated? It's not.
Does this person think consequences are outdated? They aren't.
Does this person think walking a dog is outdated? It's not.
Does this person think clarifying the point that dogs are not children is outdated? It's not.
Does this person think showing affection for dogs is outdated? It's not.
Does this person think the notion that a dog trainer has to be calm is outdated? It's not.
Does this person think the idea that a dog trainer has to send clear and well-timed signals is outdated? It's not.
So what is "the method" that is outdated? And what is that method being used for again?
This is a genuine question.
I hear people saying "Millan's methods are outdated" but no one seems to know what that means in the context of what he actually does, which is RE-habilitating dogs.
Instead, what I hear are anonymous cowards who are willing to "fence fighting" but stand as complete punks, ignorants or fools if that fence is removed.
And so they keep the fence up! No names. No email addresses.
When you tell me so little, you tell me so much!
Of course, along with the anonymous cowards, the zombies and the trolls, you have the parrots. These are the folks who repeat whatever they just heard on a board, or who regurgitate whatever they just read in a book, never once subjecting the idea to rationale thought, research, or field experience.
Parrots are the folks who write all-breed books and who read them and believe them.
They may squawk a lot, but their brains are the size of a shelled walnut, and they are incapable of original though or use of tools. Most spend their entire lives never leaving their cage.
And then there are the folks who actually do things. And guess what? The most successful of these use tools, both old and new, as they find them, and as they need them.
And so, in the world of working terriers we use tools and techniques straight out of the Middle Ages.
But we also use electronic locating collars in order to locate the dogs under ground. And we use plastic water bottles and, if the need arises, a veterinary staple gun and antibiotics.
Tools are not completely the same from one place to the next, either.
In the U.K., they do not use posthole diggers as the ground is a bit softer. When a UK terrierman comes over here, however, he figures out he may have a use for this "new" tool!
What? Not all geography is the same? True! But tell no one.
And not all dogs and dog problems are the same either.
But mum's the word. Tell no one.
As for my old tools, I try to keep them well-oiled.
A few years back I realized I could not scrunch down into a hole like I used to, and so now I go to the gym a couple of times a week just to keep things moving.
I have replaced a rivet or two in my shovel heads, I have replaced a few handles on my posthole diggers, I have patched a cracked locator box, swapped out some leather collars, replaced a badly frayed pack, and buried a dog or two.
But I still dig on my dogs the way it has been done for over four hundred years. I am not so vain as to think that because I invented a cheap game snare I invented digging on the dogs.
The world did not begin the day I was born!
- A repost from 2010.
8 comments:
Aside from their antics with health care what good are they? You get to carry another ID card. WTF
My high school government teacher called it the American Association of Retired Parasites. I can't help but think of him every time we get sent one of those AARP magazines in the mail.
It's interesting how slip and pinch collars have hardly changed throughout history: you can see the pinch collars in this 1936 Schutzhund footage. (Let's give thanks for our dogs' sakes that e-collars have evolved from the first one-stim-fits-all model!) While I can condemn the yank-n-crank model, I do have to wonder why the tools that made a well-trained dog in the past are all of a sudden "cruel."
It's not 'the world didn't begin the day I was born'.
Rather, it's 'my times are UNIQUE because *I* happen to live in them.'
Do try to keep up, won't you. ;)
Dammit, Patrick, I was boo-hoo-hoo-ing reading about Sailor's passing (for about the tenth time) just as my husband came in to say goodnight. Good thing we're already married, or he'd likely think twice after walking in on me like this. I blame you, you AARP bait! LOL...sheeeet.....
Seahorse
The first incoming phone call at our new house when we moved to Pittsburgh was from the local mega-acreage "memorial park" -- trying to sell us plots.
I was 27 years old.
I told them I planned to be composted.
Silence.
AARP is like AAA. They lure "members" with tangible group benefits, then claim to "represent" those people who just want hotel discounts or flat tires changed on issues of public policy.
As for nothing is new --
When I put together a suggested taming protocol for the volunteers who were working with the neglected/abused/feral dogs seized on our Montana rescue, I was cobbling together a lot experience, both direct and from published sources.
The oldest source was a book about circus wild animal trainers from the mid-19th century. And its author was clear that the process he described was part of an ancient oral tradition.
I bet it goes back to the pharoahs' menageries.
AARP - yeah, I got stuff from them when I turned 50. That didn't bother me nearly as much as the mailing I got on pre-paid funeral packages I received several weeks later!
Don't you just love people that know what to do that is right or wrong that have never done anything well let alone trained a dog. I worked with a gentlemen that trained a method different from mine it was easy for him and I thought hard on the dog but if he tried my method it was hard on him and the dog so I learned that not everyone can use the same method and get the same results. There is something to be said for live and let live especially when it comes to how people work, train, and learn. There is a science to everything but sometimes there is art that baffles science and becomes a science of its own. Idiots come from a tribe of people called the idiota's therefore they keep reproducing them selves and know amount of talk or training will change them. I just had two e collars taken off my dogs im sure because someone imagined poor training or abuse. Im lucky the dogs were not killed on the road and were finally found after an extended deer chase. Idiots are sometimes thieves also. Thanks for your site. David with pointers and beagles in TN
Years ago, remember being at a lake house in NC and seeing Robin Williams on the cover of AARP - and I realized I was getting older to see "Mork" getting older - lol -
anyhow, I wanted to come back and leave a note (because I read your posts from my inbox and I am not always able to get here to leave a comment)
but I love the points you make here!
And in 2006-7ish - my boys and I used to watch The Dog Whisperer all the time - and sometimes I would phase the show and tell them how his principles and tips applied to childrearing - or applied to people. Well this was different from the actual psychology he would give to the dog owners - because that was straight forward and spot on - but I would point out to them how adults who work with children need to take notes from Milan.
Like this:
Does this person think exercise is outdated? It's not.
Does this person think consequences are outdated? They aren't.
because so often the problems that our children are having is related to unclear boundaries, not enough physical exercise to clean the blood and clear the brain, appropriate consequences to teach, calm and cool, affectionate, etc.
I actually tuned into a show last month to see if I would still find the same connections - you know - child rearing tips from the amazing dog whisperer - and the episode (think it was called a family affair) I watched seemed a little "produced" (compared to the earlier, longer ones we enjoyed) - but there it was again - the wisdom for not just kids - but for all ages.
"Some dogs display aggressive behavior when they are nervous or fearful"
"Exercising your dog's mind and body can great decrease stress and greatly enrich both of your lives"
and then in this quote he actually mentions it applies to humans:
"Dehydration is a lack of water in the body, and can cause heath issues for pets and humans"
yeah dog whisperer - and yeah terrierman = because not only are these bits of truth not outdated - they are effective and classic because they work - and our modern culture would do well to not overlook the things that look too simple or passé!!
:) have a nice day
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