obedience Dogs Hear Every Word You’re Not Saying.
We spend tons of money on dog trainers to get our furry companions to fall in line. Unfortunately, they don’t always respond the way we want them to.
Have you considered that maybe it’s we who are not sending the proper signals to our dog? Animals communicate in the most basic
way — they observe body language, the sound and tone of your voice, the way you breathe, your body mechanics and even your thoughts. Dogs proficiency in reading body language should come as no sur- prise since, as pack members, they’ve had to communicate with each other without the benefit of a verbal language. Instead, they communicate through conscious and subliminal signing or gesturing, watching for the actions and reactions of others. I have been studying animal responses
to human body language for quite some time. Prompted initially by the results of studies by a Harvard University professor who validated how human “power poses” affected their ability to get a job. I applied these same power poses to horses, who are prey and then to dogs, who are predators. The horses responded in an elusive manner — the dogs
responded by submitting to whatever the human wanted them to do at the time.
BODY LANGUAGE The study of body language — kinesics — is the study of non- verbal communication using the body and has been studied since the early Greeks. Body posture — head carriage position, shoulders, hip stance, position of arms behind vs. in front — send the same messages to animals that they do to people, just more intensified. Each posture or pose gives off a certain and very different energy signal. Each body position carries with it an emotion which is triggered by our thoughts and the memo- ries our cells have stored within our body.
POSTURE & DOGS Walking a dog is the most fundamental lesson in leadership and communication between you and your dog. Below are a few pointers.
Shoulders Back — Did you know that more testosterone is emitted when your shoulders are back, vs. when they are in a slumped-over position? Dogs senses are keen. When you emit more testosterone in dog language, you are saying that you are in charge. In a dog pack, the dog with the highest level of testos- terone is in charge. Shoulders slumped to the front is a submis- sive signal saying you don’t want to be in charge.
70 THE NEW BARKER –by Jo Maldonado
Knees Locked vs. Knees Relaxed — Knees should be unlocked, or in a relaxed position if standing, legs equally apart at a stance, and grounded. When you lock your knees, your muscles tighten. Tight muscles are typically a response to either severe cold
Illustration by Andrew Howe
temperatures, excitability, or heightened emotions. This unbal- anced energy can deliver unfavor- able responses from dogs and may also be viewed as threatening. Example: a fearful person tends to tense up and stare. Dogs tend to misread a fearful person’s behavior as a challenge posture, like that of a dominant dog squar- ing up to an opponent. This imme-
diately puts a dog on the defensive.
Arms in Front or Behind — Arms behind you when walk- ing a dog on a leash is a more neutral pose, giving you the advantage of not fighting the leash or fighting your dog (you won't win and your arm will be compromised). After you have successfully mastered the art of the walk with a slack on the leash, you can enjoy walking your dog with your arms in a relaxed position at the side. Arms in front is a contracted pose and is generally interpreted as having lower self esteem, feeling threatened, nervous, insecure or defensive.
Legs Apart Stance — A neutral pose to be assumed with equal weight distributed on each leg as you stand. Shifting your weight from one leg to the other sends a message of uncertain- ty. When you are standing equally, you are more in control of your dog and are sending messages of strength and confidence to your animal.
Head Position— Very significant in body language. A person's head due to a very flexible neck structure, can turn, jut forward, withdraw, tilt sideways, forward and backwards. Head held high is the best position for working with animals as it signifies atten- tive listening and an open mind or lack of bias.
THOUGHTS If you believe in telepathy, I don’t have to explain any further. If not, let me explain systemically how your thoughts affect your body mechanics and chemistry. Your brain is like a computer, your organs are the software that runs the program that is you.
www.TheNewBarker.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112