An old cartoon, but a good reminder that dogs are not verbal, and that they are more likely to look for cues (body movement, hand signals) than listen for them.
Most people talk to their dogs far too much, and the result is that they are creating a background of "white noise" that tends to drown out and dilute the information they really want their dog to receive.
Watch a really good dog trainer, and you will see less talking and less flapping of the arms and wild body movements than you will see from the amateurs at the dog park.
Whatever "calm and assertive" means, it is certainly the opposite of multiple high-pitched calls, endless babble, arm flapping, side conversations with any people that might be in the room, anxious pacing, and meaningless head patting.
"Calm and assertive" means sending fewer signals and sending clearer ones.
.
2 comments:
The book, The Other End of the Leash, explains more about the whys of it - and why we think it is necessary to be so verbose!
An oldie, but a goodie! I miss "The Far Side".
Today at a family function I was amused to watch my SIL trying to Cesar Milan my other SIL's Shih Tzu. The "Shhhht!" distraction noise (improperly deployed) was getting nowhere and she ended up making things far worse as the puppy thought it was play time. Mind you, SIL #1 doesn't even have pets, but they watch the show! I fixed things and then told the humans to ignore and chat on. Game over.
Seahorse
Post a Comment