I wrote earlier about controlling your dog with energy. Today I thought I would give some examples of what I mean by that. As a first example, I thought I would explain what I mean by energy; namely how the atmosphere which is spread by a single individual (or group) feels. Compare that to walking into a room where two people are having a conflict – the atmosphere can be experienced as highly unpleasant.
Now Ella has and I hung out for ten years, so we know each other very well and have a great understanding of body language, routines and so on. But if we take as an example when we are out for a walk, I can feel Ella's energy through the leash. I feel when she is in what Cesar Milan calls travelling mode, and when she becomes aware of something some distance away. I don't even need to see her to know it's time for a minor correction/reprimand so she lowers her energy and doesn't blow up and become unruly (which happens extremely quickly for my dog).
I actually have to say that what I appreciate most, the most important thing about having a dog is the communication and the challenges it brings. Ella is generally a reactive dog to the extent that she pays attention to basically everything that happens around us. So as a mother, I need to do my best to at least be on par with her, preferably before.
Indoors it is significantly easier to keep communication clean, without interference.
To communicate with energy, och jag föredrar att använda så få ord som möjligt, innebär att kräva sitt utrymme. Det innebär att visualisera och ta vissa saker för givet. Står min hund i vägen får hon helt enkelt flytta på sig när jag ska gå förbi. Har hon ett tuggben jag vill städa undan är det bara för henne att flytta på sig så att jag kan plocka upp det. För mig finns inga andra alternativ – och det märks i hur jag förhåller mig till henne, men framför allt i hur hon svarar på hur jag kommunicerar min vilja och avsikt.
Haha, jag märker när jag skriver om det här att jag verkligen tycker att det här är så kul. It's crazy to see how easy it is to communicate with your dog in a way that doesn't involve any direct form of training. And, in addition to training oneself and one's communication skills – but that is something else entirely. It's great fun when you see your dog behave with respect in your presence without being afraid for the sake of it.
I do not understand how I will ever be able to do that here, communicating with energy is among the absolute best things you can do for yourself and your dog. The relationship between human and dog can become so incredibly much stronger if you make an effort to meet the dog where it is instead of asking it to adapt and its way of communicating to a more human behavior. In fact, I think it's pretty rude of us as humans to demand it – regardless of whether it is about dogs, cats, elephants or whatever else it may be.
The last thing I want squeezing into this particular post is the point that it is (according to me) a huge difference between communicating with your dog and training your dog. This is also something I feel many people misunderstand, and that makes me a little sad. I see it with great clarity just in the neighborhood where I live, where there are and have been numerous dogs who have not been well at all due to their human not being able to communicate with their dog in a meaningful way that benefits them both.