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Article submitted by Michael
Burkey www.MichealBurkey.com
“It’s
the Way You Choose to Perceive the
Noise”
By Michael Burkey CDBC, Copyright, All
Rights Reserved, 2005
THE
THIRD
WAY of dog training (developed by Chris
Bach of Training the Third Way) is very
concerned with the dog’s emotional state during learning. Chris says, “If training
fails, it is the training process, not the dog. If
a relationship has problems, the dog is not to blame. The
person's approach to the relationship is the
culprit."
This
reminds me of a song I heard by Don White*, a folk
comedian/singer. He has
a new CD out called “Live in Michigan”. One of the songs, “She Sings
Me to Sleep with Laughter”, talks about his teenager daughter’s
persistent laughing while talking on the phone with her friends
while he was trying to catch up on much needed sleep. He thought to himself how to
handle the situation. He considered his dad personas and “dad #1”
came to mind, who would rant and rave at his daughter and order her
to hang up the phone.
Then “dad #2” came to mind, who would whine and complain to
his daughter hoping to get her compliance to hang up the phone,
reminding her how hard he works to put a roof over her head. Then suddenly, a “dad #3”
appeared and told “dads 1 and 2”, what they were failing to
understand was that the noise wasn’t the problem; it was the way
they were choosing to hear (perceive) the noise of laughing. “Dads 1 and 2” replied, “oh
great, dad #3 is a philosopher!
“Dad #3,
continued on by saying, “quiet” is what results when you are alone
in the house and be careful of what you wish for. Dad #3 then repeated his
statement, “the noise is not the problem, it’s the way you choose to
perceive the noise.”
The dad then was lulled back to sleep by listening to his
delightful daughter’s laughter.
Now this
isn’t to suggest that we allow our dogs or our daughters to do
whatever they please.
However, I do think it is helpful in restructuring our
thought patterns, that the dog shouldn’t be blamed for behaviors we
find unacceptable. Dogs
are perfect at being dogs.
It is our perception of their behavior that often times
prevents us from working towards a solution to the “problem
behavior”. Instead of
blaming the dog, we as our dog’s trainers need to restructure the
training program so the dog can be successful in displaying the
desired behavior.
Therefore, THE THIRD WAY’s three touchstone questions are
crucial in changing a dog’s behavior: 1) What behavior is the dog
showing (emotional state)?; 2) How is the environment affecting the
dog positively or negatively?; and 3) How is the handler affecting
the dog positively or negatively? Being able to answer these
three questions, the trainer is able to change a dog’s behavior
without blaming the dog for its behavior.
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Article submitted by Michael
Burkey www.MichealBurkey.com
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