In Modifying Behavior-Lesson 1: Know Thy Pet I proposed you have to first be able to “read” your pet before you can modify their behavior. I suggested trying to understand why your pet’s acting a certain way so that you may better assess how you can change the unwanted behavior.
I’m not sure I did a very good job explaining myself. But today in my quest to learn about deaf dogs for my friend Lyn, I ran across the most brilliant quote.
In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming part dog. ~-Edward Hoagland-~
That’s what I was trying to say. Except my version was nowhere near as eloquent or concise.
But what I was trying to convey was that you have to get in their heads. In order to do that, you have to open yourself up to a new perspective –-theirs.
That’s going to be scary for many humans. It’s going to involve a degree of letting go. Of not being in control all the time. Of stepping out of our world and into theirs.
But it needn’t be a frightening experience. It could be a marvelous one!
Just look at all the positive points Aimee brought up about a dog’s point of view in these two articles: Dog Philosophy and Being a Dog. In the last one in particular Aimee admitted that she might not want to be a dog all the time, but it could make for a nice vacation.
Why not take one? At some point today take a five minute vacation and become your dog. Or cat. Or parrot, ferret, or hamster. Whatever kind of pet you have, do what they’re doing when you decide to take your getaway.
If it’s sleeping, mimic it. Go on. Lay with them on the floor. Or the couch. Or wherever their favorite snoozing spot happens to be.
If it’s eating, grab a snack.
Grooming themselves? Grab a hairbrush or nail file and groom away.
What you’ll realize from this experiment is that, just like us, there’s a reason for everything they do. They sleep when they’re tired or bored. They eat when they’re hungry. They groom themselves to keep tidy.
There are even reasons why they behave badly.
Once you take some time to be thy pet, you can then know thy pet and how to address both good behavior (praise and/or rewards) and bad (disciplinary correction).