07/08/2024
I am excited to share, I am now a Certified Family Dog Mediator.
If you will, please bear with me as I share some thoughts.
This was an intensive course with fascinating insights and validation in my belief that “training” as we have historically viewed it, needs to change. We covered a lot of science and technical work around ethology, ecology, epigenetics, canine genetics, breed groupings, and even a bit of human psychology. Being the science nerd I am at heart, I did my own deep dives and further research and reading as I moved through the course units. It is my life’s work, passion, and livelihood to pursue knowledge of, and educate others in, the human and canine togetherness. The details matter to me, regardless of how many calls I receive asking me to just “fix it”.
That is not actually my job. My job is educator - translator - advocate - consultant - mediator - and to some extent and sort, some have used the word, therapist.
My role and responsibility for my own dogs is guardian - educator - advocate - protector - care giver - partner - friend.
The most common way I conceptualize this for clients is through the parenting model of relationships. But just as easily, we can speak to other relationship models like upper management or Military. But those don’t “feel” as good or relatable for most. So we stick with the parent-child model.
The way we live with our dogs should not be centered around the concept of obedience. In fact, the “obedience” portion of the training is only a piece of the whole puzzle. It has it’s place but is most effectively viewed through the lens of communication - establishing a common language with which we can provide information, instructions, and guidance to these amazing animals we bring alongside us in this thing called life. You’ve heard me say this before, but it may not have stuck in your mind - “obedience is really just about communication”. What we are able to accomplish and teach dogs is truly remarkable. However, the root of it all is not how many words we can teach them or how many names of toys they are intelligent enough to learn, but in how they are integrated into our home and world through the relationship and experiences they have as sentient beings. These sentient beings have a place and purpose in our lives, but it is not to be our adult replacement for once doted upon childhood stuffed animals or surrogate lovers, babies, or parents.
They are our friends and confidants, who once fulfilled a purpose as our partners in survival of the human race.
They have needs as unique species that are not fulfilled and met by much of our modern world and the conveniences we now have that remove us from nature and from the utility of survival instincts ourselves. We no longer need dogs for their utility, but rather they tend to serve to make us feel good, be our arm candy, fill emotional voids, become replacement children, or elevate our societal status. Look - I am not demonizing these things. They are not inherently bad. But they can be. The potential is there for these modern utilities of dogs to become a slippery slope to diminished animal welfare and just plain weird.
Real talk - I sometimes call my dogs my kids. I did not have children but always wanted them (still do but that ship has sailed), so yes my dogs fill that void in my heart and life. And much like a parent-child relationship, I am responsible for their wellbeing. But I love and respect them as the animals they are, as dogs. I have “asked” them to be a part of my life. In doing so, it is my responsibility to make sure they have their needs met and I provide a quality of life that suits their genetics as a canine - not a human.
Our dogs are a fish out of water in our modern society. We bred these intensely intelligent, creatures to serve us with purpose and aid in our survival as a species. We bred them to be hunters, guardians, trackers, herders, rodent killers, and even literal flea magnets. They have been brought alongside humans for thousands of years to ensure the survival of the human race. We would not be here without the assistance of dogs.
Let’s talk for a moment about what we are currently encountering at unprecedented levels with the modern dogs.
As professionals, we are encountering a staggering increase in “behavioral cases” amongst the family dog population, including dogs from breeders, shelters, and rescue environments. Prevalent issues are anxiety disorders, intolerance, frustration, lack of self and independence, withdrawal from social connections or environments, violent tendencies, mood swings (“out of no where”), destruction, self-harm, and addictions or obsessive behaviors. What does this sound like when we speak with potential clients? To name a few common complaints: separation anxiety, crate anxiety, jumping, tail chasing, destruction of the sofa, resource guarding, won't come when called, escapes the yard, human aggression or reactivity, dog aggression or reactivity. These things are not “training” problems. But they are welfare, education, guidance, and awareness problems.
Each of those things has little, to nothing, to do with obedience and commands. They are issues rooted in the relationship between the human and the canine, and understanding their L.E.G.S.
Enter the L.E.G.S. model. L.E.G.S. stands for:
L - Learning
E - Environment
G - Genetics
S - Self
These 4 elements converge to create the life experience of our dog as an individual. For years I have asked detailed questions which relate to each of these elements. I now have more insight as to why the questions I ask are relevant, and what other questions we need to be asking as professionals. I can tell many clients are annoyed by my line of questioning, digging for more information. This goes back to the skewed way of thinking about life with our dogs - the “just fix my dog” mentality. But your dog is not a broken AC unit that needs a new part and will be good as new. I also can tell when clients cannot be bothered to read the guides provided in the very beginning of our process together, with my Pet Parent Guide and Wellness Guide. I can tell there is a lack of appreciate for the simple foundation games of Search and Freedom of Choice. Yet these are the very building blocks on which I can help the dog find even the tiniest bit of fulfillment and see their world through a different lens. This begins to offer your dog clarity they have been craving, often relieving completely unnoticed levels of stress in a majority of dogs I work with.
I will not stop asking questions. My questions are a critical component of my job in advocating for the dog and for the goals of the family.
Now, in a very real, raw moment - this profession is exhausting. We endlessly repeat ourselves to the same people, but what we are explaining, answering, showing, or teaching very often falls on deaf ears. To be asked over and over to “fix my dog or else…” makes one weary beyond what most are willing to deal with. The compassion fatigue and burnout are palpable. Hear me now when I say - it is never the dogs that wear us professionals to the bone. The human may pay the bills, and the human side of the welfare is crucial and must be treated with compassion - but I serve at the pleasure of the dog.
Studying the L.E.G.S. model strengthens how I have already been approaching the “training” process for several years now. I simply have more of the dots connected and more in-depth understanding of the “whys” behind much of what we do.
If we are going to bring dogs alongside us in this life, it is our responsibility to show them what this life means to them, how to navigate life in the environments we place them in, to provide for their appropriate welfare needs as dogs - not what appeals to us as humans. We must learn what their ancestry might be telling them to do, how to work with their genetics (the ones we bred them for), and have compassion for how this clashes with our modern integration of the pet dog. We must learn how they communicate with us, teach them how we communicate, and how we can develop our own communication system which blends the two together, with a natural wonder and beauty that few other inter-species relationships will ever realize in this iteration of the Earth.
Stop for just a moment everyday to appreciate the joy of watching your dog, just be a dog.
