Only because I met Anders Hallgren at the dog fair the other day, I thought I'd take a closer look at his books. I also looked a bit at his website, and read, among other things, one blog posts about this so-called “the debate” (rather “the conversation”) on SVT, which I wrote about a few weeks ago. In exactly the same way as before, I am a bit broken by his attitude towards Alexandra Ortega's way of relating to dogs – but also provided a minor insight.
This is one thing which, on the whole, is extremely difficult to put into words, so that makes sense. Because it's all about, according to me, about how to relationship to dogs. For me, it's very little about that train dogs, and much more about that manage dogs. Those are two completely different things, and I find that those who would rather train their dogs than handle them, very happy to forget it.
Anyone can teach a dog to sit, lie, stay and so on. It is not very difficult, and doesn't take very long either. To train a dog in elite obedience or something else, more advanced, naturally takes a little longer. Different dogs have different interests in learning things, and motivated by different things (candy, play and more).
To handle one dog is something else entirely. It is about how you use yourself in the treatment of and communication with the dog. How to compare this to training a dog, regardless of what behavior you are looking to learn or change, goes beyond my understanding. I also don't understand why so many people associate this with punishment and general cruelty, when the only thing that matters is adapting one's way of communicating with one's dog in a way that is more natural for it, than any command we teach it to understand and follow.
If man (like me) likes to surf dog breeds porn on SKK's dog breed guide surely you are aware that on some breeds it is clearly written that this dog is not for everyone. It says so, not because the breed is necessarily difficult to train, but because it requires treatment from its human like everyone else, for various reasons, not able to cope. In the same way that working dogs are not for everyone, because they also need a lot of exercise, partly have a very great need for mental challenges. Or that hunting dogs are not good as exclusively companion dogs.
Some races demands a lot from its person – some in the form of exercise and training, others in the form of a very stable and clear leadership. For me, shopping – again, not the leadership on punishments, violence, anger and so on, but about the ability to measure one's mental strength with the dog and be the one who guides instead of the other way around.
Then I am completely agree that guidance may mean that you need to train your dog on certain things. For example sit, lie, stay, summons, passivity training and so on. But quite honestly; depending on what kind of person you are, you don't always have to do that either. If you have such clear leadership (without penalties, anger and violence) that the dog understands what you want without training it – then what is training for??
What I think that you can think about, is, for example, why it takes some people so long to get their dog to listen and do what you ask, while others succeed in a matter of seconds? Is it the dog that is wrong, or does man have anything to do with the matter?
To return to this with attitudes towards dogs; that which at least separates myself from many others, is what we are looking for in our dog life. I write again and again that I am not particularly interested in training dogs (in addition to everyday obedience), but is all the more interested in the relationship and communication with my dog. For others, it seems to be training their dog, learn the fun tricks and the like. For others again – completely different things.
And out of it perspective, it is perhaps not so strange that misunderstandings and other crap arise between the camps. My personal opinion is that one does not necessarily exclude the other, but that this with treatment, communication and leadership are incredibly much more important than training.
Floki's mat said to me once (and I recognize myself very well) that it is so difficult to know which advice to follow. Everyone says different things, and how to know what works? You don't know that – but it is possible to find out. Plus you get to adopt what works for you and your own dog, and then ignore the rest.
That is the reason to that I, even though I'm not very fond of his philosophy, I can imagine reading a couple, three books by Anders Hallgren. Although I don't agree with him on much (in what I have read and heard so far), I am convinced that there are parts of what he says that I can use in my way of relating to those dogs (and my own) I meet.