The Relationship Between Man & Beast...

Posted by jennifer on October 15, 2007 in Training & Behavior Tips.

On a cold snowy day in Colorado, I looked outside to see my SUV staring at me stuck, halfway down my driveway in a pile full of freshly blown snow. About five months prior to this, I had just moved to the state after going through two hurricanes in Florida and coming off ten years in Los Angeles. Although I’m originally from Boston, snow had been the furthest thing from my mind in recent years. Not only did it snow- it kept on snowing for countless days straight. DIA was closed for Christmas leaving many people stranded (including me) and it just so happened that I moved to Colorado in one of the worst winters in the states history.
I didn’t really no anyone here- just a few clients that I was picking up here and there and coming from the city, living on five acres is a big change of life for one to go through. However, here I was and this is ultimately where I wanted to start calling home- the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
I moved to Colorado for a few reasons. The first was to work with wolves, which I had been dreaming about doing for years. The second was to get closer to nature, become more “one” with animals in general and then apply that to dogs. The last reason was to open the K-9 Ranch Training Center from where I sit today. In Los Angeles, it’s pretty hard to come by a five-acre ranch in the heart of the city. My dream was, and still is, to have a facility open year round, rain or shine and get people away from their job, their responsibilities, their life (in a sense) and connect them back through nature to higher relationship with their pets.
There are so many fond memories I have as a kid that I’m sure a lot of people have with their childhood animals. The only difference was I didn’t live with dogs as pets- I lived with dogs that worked. For the most part, every dog my parent’s owned was there to protect our house. That was the dog’s number one job. After this was completed though, we were all living in one big pack. There wasn’t just one but always two or three or more…
I remember running as a 4 or 5 year old with two large German Shepherds and a big, black Great Dane (the size of a small pony), right at my back. I remember my dogs as my best friends growing up and throughout every day of my life. I could play with them for hours and never get bored. As my rebellious teenage years took hold, there I was again every night when every one else was asleep having therapy sessions with our German Shepherds. It was never any doubt that I loved animals more than anything else and therefore has lead me down the road of where I sit today…
Anyone who ever grew up with a dog has a fond memory of that animal. There was an innocence that came between our two souls where you might have been able to relate to them on a better level. There is no coincidence to this. I think a lot of people have just forgotten how to do this.
As we grow older, the innocence slips away into the cracks and crevasses of our adult lives. The days of “going out to play” have now become “going out to dinner” or “going out to have drinks”. The problem is that for a lot of people living in our modern world, the connection to their animals is either a replacement for something else missing in one’s life or their just too busy to have a real connection and often leave the duty up to someone else.
Because our world is changing from people not feeling the overwhelming pressure to be married right away, not wanting kids or just waiting to have them later and people in general staying single, our dog’s worlds are changing too.
The way the pet industry is right now, if you are in the pet industry, it’s a very good time to be. Billions are sold each year from couture clothes to vet services, grooming and yes- training is booming. There is a reason for all of this… Humans are not treating their dogs like dogs anymore but rather, as little children. This in turn, has caused more problems and much more business for me… lol.
Going back to those days of the winter that just never ended, I had spent days, weeks and months with the only friends I had- Dylan, Lola & Elvis. It was at that time that I realized the most powerful, healthy connection a human has to their pet is lost in the innocence of childhood.
From that moment on, I tried to get back to that but what I found out was that we were no longer friends with our dogs but parents. Huh? What a concept. I was guilty of it myself. I spent God only knows how much money in vet bills every month, premium food, grooming, the best dog beds, etc. and here I was in that role of being a parent to my dogs. I have always led my dogs through pack psychology, asserting leadership, dominance, rules & regulations but it was time to get back on their level and not on mine.
I think one of my greatest gifts I have been given from a child is trying to figure out new things through experiments with animals. These “experiments” didn’t hurt them in any way but I had to figure out how everything from my goldfish to my horse ticked. So, throughout my life my experiments have continued and there I was on the floor, on all fours about to embark on the biggest experiment of my life…
Watching Lola growl over a toy, I copied her as precisely accurate as I could. I spent hours watching her body posture, her eyes, and teeth and how she carried herself. If there is ever a dog that I owe credit to teaching me about growling and body posture, it’s Lola. She will make your heart melt but in one swift moment, when she needs to be boss- boy does she let the other dogs know it.
It’s interesting to watch wolves and dogs in packs. I could go on and on about the roles they play, their relationship to each other, etc. Wolves and dogs are actually not far from us as social creatures and also not far from each other either (despite what other people may tell you). Although as a human, you may be at a party, how you walk into that party, what your body posture says, which way your eyes look says a lot about you before you even open your mouth.
As any one knows, this language that dogs have is in some ways very similar. In order to tap into this language though, I went where not a lot of people
would want, or even think of going- I became (in as much as I could get away with)- a dog. Now before you think I’m crazy, hear me out.
This experiment I conducted had remarkable effects. So much so, I use a lot of what I learned still today. I teach people how to growl at their dogs and after there initial embarrassment, they go to- “Oh my God- this really works!” in a matter of seconds. In all honestly, the growling and establishing rank in pack over food and other high-value items, has become the quickest, most efficient methods of solving some of the cases I work with to date.
Beyond all the tricks I learned, all the dog language that was taught to me, I discovered my point all over again. Dogs are friends with each other. Have you ever heard the saying “You can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family?” Dogs pick and choose their friends just like we do and we need to be better friends to them.
What was lost in innocence was gained in being utterly alone with my pack for months on end. A truly accidental experiment that turned into a life’s long journey. Getting back to the connection I had with my animals when I was younger. Getting off the computer and playing games with them until we were both tired. Forgetting about the world for a minute and living in the moment with your dog- this is the secret to success. Also, time. I have always said one thing-the more time you put into your dog, the more you’ll get out of him.
So here I sit, one year later with more questions still un-answered but with each trial and error, I become one step closer to truly being as close as I can come right now to truly understanding a dog.

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