Dog Training - The Next Level - Natural Dog Training

When looking for a way to train your dog, you will soon discover there are dog trainers everywhere and that there is more than one way to train a dog and there is disagreement in what is best. Also, just because millions follow one way or another, does not mean it is the best or only way, or that is is the way for you and the dog in your life.

This is my humble first offering as a writer on this topic, or, as you will soon discover, should I say non-writer. I go with deep resonance, inspired by working with Skye, and if this gets anyone to pause for a second and search the internet to inform themselves - then a service has been done. And if it inspires anyone to work with their dog in a way that more deeply honors and expresses the deep, true nature and heart of each - that is a blessing and gift to this world to which I bow with gratitude.

Dog training as it is used today is a relative recent invention, even though dogs and humans have been working together for a very long time.

Hey, play with me

Until about World War I, most domesticated dogs living with people had a function in the family, a job, and they were expected to follow certain house rules, they had a respected place in the family. Their jobs were guarding, protection, herding, pulling carts and sledges and help in hunting. Their training happened as a result of the way they lived and worked in the family and with their owners. The notion of a dog as man's best friend is something that arose in a northern climate and largely western cultural disposition, including the cradle of that civilization. At least I have yet to come across stories about that coming out of Africa or the Far East, like China.

Fast forward to millions of dogs in our society today: the environment our companion dogs are expected to function in today is very different. Not only is there an incredible population density - often there are no spaces where dogs can be dogs, and they are left alone for hours at a time indoors. Rather then doing jobs requiring them to use their energy in fulfilling ways, they often are living lives with no appropriate use of their energy. At the same time they have become the most pampered and fussed over animals with millions of dollars spent on their care. And never before have there been so many behavioral problems with them.

There is a huge variety of functions dogs are now being trained for, and bred for.
Breeding, over time, has changed dogs considerably, and not always in the right direction to do these magnificent animals justice, and in fact may be contributing to some of the behavioral problems we see today. Dogs are also emerging as the most social, adaptable companions man has ever known, with the ability to read - and reflect - humans like no other animal on earth. The emotional pure nature of dogs will prove a tool that is yet unrecognized by most people.

During WW I and II, people started using dogs in different ways and there was a need to find ways to train dogs fast. Compulsion Training was born as there was a high need to rapidly replace dogs. From there the obedience training methods were derived. In conjunction with observations done on wolves in captivity, the dominance and pack idea began being popular. While a lot of dogs did well, harsh training methods also broke the spirit of many dogs, even though not considered abusive if properly applied. Operand Conditioning, or the "positive" training methods saw a huge rise in the 1990ties, though the research was done over 100 years ago. It works on reward system. Again, while there is a lot to be said for it, in the extreme, it often did not get the results.
Today, a lot of trainers use a balanced approach and adapt to the needs and temperament of your dog.

In recent years, another method,  Natural Dog Training,  is gaining awareness and is the way of the near future of dog training. At the same time, as it often goes with new developments and findings,  the old may resist the new, mostly based on fear. This need not be so.
By no means am I saying that other methods should not be used. If fact, they might have worked perfectly for you and your family. Some of the popularization might have been exactly what was needed to raise awareness and give many people a way to make it possible for them and their dogs to stay together. Many many dogs have been helped and their lives literally saved using those methods, even as the premise on which they were based may not be scientifically sound in light of new research and understanding about the nature of dogs, including the actual way wolves function in the wild. At the same time, behavior issues are the number 1 cause of death for dogs in the USA.
I suggest to be open enough to explore a dimension of relating to dogs and working with them in dog training which is not addressed in the older forms of training.

Natural dog training, created by Kevin Behan, is a way of training that recognizes the nature of dogs in a profound way and which works with dogs and their natural drive and energy flow. Natural Dog Training is the first method I have seen described which respects and works with the deepest nature, drive and the energetic and emotional beingness of dogs. I love it for that reason. Recent research of wolves in the wild and the social-emotional nature of dogs and their way of relating to humans is supportive/compatible with this way of training. For many dogs and their owners, this will be the way to train.

Kevin Behan, having grown up raising and training dogs with his father, is very well versed in both compulsion training as well as operand conditioning training methods or anything else that came along. He also learned from some German training methods which respected the drive and nature of their dogs.He has trained police dogs and works in what I call dog rehab. He is so experienced and immersed in the world of dogs and training, he can draw from whatever is needed. However, there is a knowing and understanding of a deeper dimension and underlying energies with informs the methods of Natural Dog Training. As will become clear, the very nature of dogs will require from the owner a different way to look at dogs and themselves, using this method. I hope it can be developed to be used by people at all stages of the great human spiral of development. At the very least, existing training methods can become informed and modified to honor the deepest nature and needs of dogs in our lives.

This is  worth studying - and every dog trainer owes it to themselves, their dogs AND their owners to take this to heart with an open mind, even if continuing training as usual. You may find that what is already healthy and honoring the way of dogs in the method you are using does not have to be thrown out, but it may well provide understanding and a missing link in understanding of why dogs do what they do at times.

I only hope that Natural Dog Training can be developed in ways that works for people in all walks of life and situations, that it can inform other training methods to make them more aligned with the nature of dogs - and us, and that none will become stuck but continue to evolve as we learn and discover more and more about our deeper nature.

As with any other method, training your dog will require at least some time and energy. If you ask yourself: what makes this dog tick, what is his/her nature, what does this dog want and need, and then do your best to provide that for him/her - you are on the right track.

Links are provided on the sidebar  for easy access & more information.

...and let your dog win tug of war - every time :)