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To swim against the current of human intuition is a difficult task.
The human mind is built to identify for each event a definite cause and can therefore have a hard time accepting the influence of unrelated factors.
~Leonard Mlodinow; Author of The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Amazon affiliate link)

In 1965, Daniel Kahneman -who was at that time a junior Psychology Professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem- was tasked with teaching a group of Israeli Flight Instructors on the conventional wisdom of behaviour modification and its application on the psychology of flight training.

One of his students disagreed.

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This article is intended for experienced meditation practitioners as well as those who have never practiced meditation nor have any intention of doing it and all points in between.

We will discuss:

• WHY Americans feel friction with Meditation
• Issues most people face
• How to get around those issues
• The practical need for meditative practice
• And how to meditate without mediating

One of the greatest philosophers of our time, Bruce Lee, in his movie Enter the Dragon shows his opponent the Art of Fighting Without Fighting. We will discuss the Art of Meditation without Meditation.

What is Meditation?

From the outside looking in, meditation is practice of Sitting in Silence.

The Culture Code (aff) for America is Movement. 

From the on-the-go everyday life to constant striving for inner self betterment, America’s Culture Code is movement. Always moving forward, always setting and meeting goals, always running towards…something.

Outward expressions of this Culture Code are

• Fast-food restaurants
• Eating in your car
• Making sure we have a “full schedule” of "things to do"

We keep our schedules full to keep ourselves distracted from noticing that we have nothing to do.

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This post has been long-time coming. I want to thank Leslie and Craig for giving me a much needed kick in the butt to finally talk about the subject of congruence. 

You can view Leslie’s and Craig’s comments that spurred this post here 

Ding dong. The door opens and it’s Dharma. 

Thank you for coming, she tells you. Nunzio, our Welsh Corgi is going crazy. Greg and I can’t seem to get him “under control”. 

Before we continue, I would like to add few more colors to our protagonists. 

In addition to being a stuck-up conservative, straight-laced, and slightly repressed; let’s make Greg a former army man. Say a drill sergeant. 

And in addition to being a hippy-dippy flower-child, let’s make Dharma even more empathic, soft and sweet and just a butterfly in a human form. 

One issue we are having with Nunzio is his insistence on chewing electrical cables around the house, Greg said.

Greg has some ideas on how to handle Nunzio's behavior and is dead-set on using an E-Collar. He’s seen the Army canine unit use the E-Collar and Greg has witnessed first-hand how quickly and effectively they get dogs to comply with desired behavior. No amount of convincing will change his mind. 

Do you:

1. Politely excuse yourself and explain that you are against E-Collars leaving Greg to go find another dog trainer who is all-too-happy to use it perhaps excessively, or
2. Do you show Greg the least invasive way of using the E-Collar?

Dharma tells you that she has problems with Nunzio during walks.

Whenever they meet another dog, Nunzio goes crazy. Barking and pulling, looking like he wants to eat the other dog. 

You suggest a treat or a toy distraction, however, Dharma tells you she rarely remembers to bring treats along on walks. 

An early and timely leash correction might be appropriate here, but Dharma doesn’t want to hear of it. She is dead-set against any kind of force-based manipulation. 

What do you do? 

I wrote this to illustrate the importance of taking a client’s disposition into consideration when sharing dog training information. 

What is congruent with our personality may not be so with somebody else’s. 

Some people are “hard” and some are “soft”. Same is true of dogs. Neither is good not bad, its just is.

The important part here is to remove our selves from the equation and do what’s best for the dog and “speak” to the client’s natural tendencies and bring them closer to the “middle”. 

What do you think?

I know some will disagree, but that ending left a lot to be desired. Which brings up a good point regarding dog training.

When engaging in a training session with your pooch, before you start, please have an ending in mind.

Ask yourself; What do I hope to accomplish during this session? How do I hope it ends? How will I know its done? (maybe when the dog's focus starts to drift?).

A good example of the show which started with an ending in mind was Life on Mars.

It was a cop drama set in the 70s with some weird alien thingies buzzin around along with some pretty-hard-to-explain events along the way. As it turns out, all the protagonists where in suspended animation in a space shuttle waiting to arrive to Mars.

So dog trainers, dog owners and Holywood producers alike. Please start with an ending in mind.

Be the first to comment.

Ok, here’s the deal.

At Christmastime, your family welcomed a new puppy into your lives! It was crazy, hectic, busy, but you managed to survive- until now! In three weeks, your youngest child will be having the ”Best Birthday Party Ever!” in your backyard, with family and friends, not of which all like dogs- you get the idea?

So, what do you do? Your new family member has never seen all these people, or smelled all those tempting things, or heard all that noise before! Unless you find a way to make him understand through a Vulcan mind-meld, he’s likely to go bonkers, cause havoc, and wreck the fun!!

Now, while I haven’t exactly figured out the whole finger-placement for the meld, I’ve learned one thing-
If you expose your dog to as many people as possible, in as many places as possible, with as many noises as possible, he won’t freak out!

Teaching a puppy to stay calm in difficult situations IN A CAREFULLY CONTROLLED SETTING is the ticket!

As part of my Puppy Preschool class, I have one session set aside for celebrations. Most students don’t see the relevance until we all start singing the birthday song, and the dogs start looking around, not sure of what to do! I’ve only had one pup spontaneously join in with the singing, which, of course made everybody laugh, but what an eye-opener!

Remember, at a party, balloons will pop! Cake will get dropped! Juice will get spilled, and you really don’t want the puppy tearing around, gobbling anything that hits the floor!

I equip my students with all kinds of noise makers, honkers, blow-outs, rattlers, and whistles. We all take turns while the puppies are loose playing to use these, and gauge the dogs’ reactions to them.

While I don’t bring cake to drop, we work on the “Leave it!” command using treats , and we use “Watch me!” to get the dog’s focus.

This class seems to have the most impact on my students- they gain insight into our celebrations through their dog’s eyes! Yes, I agree, we do look silly and act crazy- at least from the dog's point of view! But this class seems to help them understand that sometimes unusual things happen! And as long as the pup stays calm, and can focus on you, he will be safe!

While teaching your pup to look to you for guidance in weird situations, you also have to teach others how to interact with your dog. Some young children will run (chase instinct), or shriek (barking instinct) or cry (whining instinct) causing our dog to act accordingly. Also, adults can be fearful of dogs, causing residual effects in children.

By learning how to greet a dog safely, it puts everybody more at ease, meaning everyone will have more fun!

Have your dog meet as many party-goers as possible a few days BEFORE the big event- cutting down on anxiety, and fearful behaviors from everyone! Have each person greet you first, and allow the dog to sniff- don’t pet, or stare at the dog, until he is done- and have the guest offer a small tidbit of a treat… as close to pea-sized as possible! Remind small kids to play gently with the dog- no ear pulls or tail pulls, etc.

When it comes right down to it, have a safe quiet place for your dog to go if the action get to be too much- a crate in a corner of the yard where he can still see, but not interact with what’s going on- and make sure that all the guests know the puppy needs a nap- most small kids will get it.

Relax, enjoy, have a great time- but be prepared first!

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post by a contributing author Peg Demaine, who is a ABC Certified Dog Trainer working out of Shelton, CT. and can be reached at (203) 556-1939

Leave a comment so we know you were here and please share this post with your friends and family.

If you are an electrical engineer, or have an engineering background of some sort, you are well aware of the attenuation problem.

In a few words, attenuation is loss of signal over distance. As electrical signal traverses the wire, the mass of the wire introduces resistance which degrades the intensity of the signal itself. This, in engineering terms, is known as attenuation.

However, the electrical signal is not the only type of signal susceptible to attenuation.

Imagine a human-centric communication as an electrical signal.

Now imagine people who are transmitting that signal as a type of wire. Every time one person passes the information to another, the information gets degraded, thereby the original fidelity, intensity and intent of the information is distorted.

Engineers have found a fix for this issue. For analog signals we use amplifiers. For digital signals we use repeaters.

You will be glad to know that there is fix for attenuated human communication as well. Its called epistemology.

Epistemology is kind of a fancy word for education though purists will argue that there is a difference. 

I don’t use the word “education” for the fear that it might create a picture of a systematized institution in your mind. Say a school, religion, political party, etc. All these offer an education (or do they offer training? There is a difference), but they don’t offer a critical consideration for the student. Rather, the student must adjust and comply with the institution’s version of the signal's fidelity.

Epistemology on the other hand, is a seldom used word that doesn’t necessarily create a solid picture in anyone’s mind which makes it pliable and useful for what we are trying to accomplish.

Epistemology is study in nature of knowledge, in particular its foundations, scope, and validity. Thanks Encarta.

Which brings us back to attenuation

Have you ever heard a rumor you though couldn’t be true? It’s probably because the signal got distorted as it made its way to your ears.

Have you ever heard someone repeat a piece of information that sounded correct but you knew it NOT to be true?  They probably received a distorted version of the signal or the signal attenuated in their mind. Just like a laptop battery, signal/information stored in our memory will dissipate and attenuate as a result of long term storage.

If all this sounds like a fancy game of telephones you played as a kid, that’s because it is, except we engage in it every day, with all information, entirely unaware. 

What’s the fix?

Start paying attention. Become aware of your own attenuation and look for it in others. Speaking of others...

Dog professionals make for an excellent study in attenuation

Dog trainers get their information from various sources, but we will play out an ideal and best scenario.

1. A dog trainer reads a book by a famed author. Already the information has leaped across several “distortion pits”. From the authors mind (let’s assume it originated there which is almost never the case) onto the page of the book.
2. Then our dog trainer works on conforming that information with his own beliefs and experiences so it "fits". This means more distortion. 
3. The trainer then relates this distorted information to the dog owner who goes through the same process of conforming the information to his own beliefs, notion, points of view, etc. 
4. Only then does the owner try to communicate this information to his dog. Poor dog.

By the time any piece of information makes its way into popular thought, it has been warped and degraded so much that the original intent is unrecognizable. I'll share one example if you promise to share one as well :-)

The intent behind The Disability Discrimination Act was to punish employers who discriminate against people who are disabled. A noble thought indeed. However, what it actually did was to make the disabled really undesirable as employees since they couldn’t be fired.  

End result? Instead of going through the hustle of defending themselves in court, employers simply decided that hiring disabled was more trouble than worth it. 

Was that another example of punishment NOT working as an incentive?

The way around this is outcome-directed thinking, which is yet another epistemological blind spot for most people and a topic for another time.

In summary

• Start accounting for attenuation whenever you receive any future information and don’t be shy at applying it retroactively as well.
• Stop thinking in a linear fashion (like the Congress did when passing the Disability Discrimination Act), rather, start thinking in desired outcomes.

Be the next one to comment and share. 

Related Posts:

Your Dog: The Main Protagonist in a Russian Melodrama

Alpha-Dog, Alpha-Wolf, Alpha-Male: Alpha-What?

Best Exercise for Your Energetic Dog

The Issue of Indoctrination in Dog Training

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Service dogs? No. Service Humans. Yes!!!

If you're a dog person, then you are probably aware of all different ways in which dogs help us humans. Specifically, there is a group of dogs who deserve a special mention. I'm talking of course, about Service Dogs.

Seeing-eye dog would be a perfect example; there are also tracking dogs who help find people in rubbles, drug-sniffing dogs working with police departments, even dogs who are able to sniff out dust-mites working with exterminators.

Incredible? Yes. Possible? Absolutly. Here is how.

Of course, there are countless other ways in which dogs help us, but I think you get my point. We owe a great debt of gratitude to this amazing animal.

Lets turn our focus now to humans.

What is it that we do for dogs and how does that reflect on us? That will be the focus of this article.

Since "New Thought" (now commonly known as Positive Thinking) replaced the oppressive shackels of Calvinistic doom and gloom few hundred years ago; there has been a steady momentum building (in the western world) towards happiness, pink butterflies and all-things positive.

Positive thinking (in its worst form) has permeated religious institutions (think non-denominational corporatized mega churches), corporate culture (think motivational speakers, team building exercises, and similar nonsense.), and even the economy.

How else would you explain so many people signing up for ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgages) thinking -no doubt positively- that interest rates will go down over the next 30 years.

To really beat a dead horse; books and DVDs like The Secret, The Power of Positive Thinking, Law of Attraction and countless others have not only reached best-selling status but have gained prominence in scientific circles over the last few decades.

The big idea behind "positive thinking" is that in order for you to be happy you must think positively.

All you have to do then is ask the universe to send you a pony (or a low interest rate, pink cadilac, or whatever) and the universe -your personal fountain of fortune- delivers.

What does "positive thinking" have to do with dogs?

I want to focus on the "happy" part of the positive-thinking equation.

We do all this positive stuff to be happy. In fact, I will argue that there has never, ever been any other industry other than happiness.

• If you buy that new flat-screen, you will be happy.
• If you can get a bigger house, you will be happy.
• If you can get that promotion, you will be happy, etc, etc, etc.

In our never-ending pursuit of happiness we've overlooked something obvious.

We are happiest when we can do something for others.

Think about it. All these material things give us temporary elation which dissipates with the next commercial for a newer, shinier toy.

On the other hand, things we do for our kids, parents, friends and neighbors, and the universe in general are in fact quite selfish. Why? Because they ultimately make US feel good about ourselves.

Its easy not to notice this. You really have to pause and pay attention. And I hope that you will if you haven't already.

So again you might ask, what does this have to do with dogs?

There is one, super secret way of making ourselves feel happy. Become a Service Human to your dog.

Work to understand your dog's needs and dedicate yourself to meeting those needs. I must quickly qualify that statement.

It is important to understand that our dogs DO NOT need us for things we think they do.

They dont need us to provide them with shelter and food. They are perfectly capable of providing that for themselves.

• What they DO NEED is for us to love them enough to make a commitment for life (average life span for a dog is about 14 years).
• They DO NEED us to show them compassion when they do something wrong (I really should say that a dog never does anything wrong, we just perceive it as wrong).
• And they DO NEED us to work harder at understanding them.

To that end, what they really need from us is to respect their dogginess, provide them with ample activities, purpose, the right kind of leadership, companionship, the right kind of mental and physical stimulation, and so on.

Keep in mind. Your dog cant go and roam or otherwise meet its real needs on his own. You have to go with him.

After you start noticing how good it feels to be in service of another, you might extend your services to the universe at large. Our dog can be our guide and teacher to get us there.

"I got to get mine, Jack" decade is over. Having "things" beyond basic necessities doesn't make us proportionately happier. But there is one thing that does. Being in service of others. Start with your dog, and work your way up to the universe. Cheers.

Related Posts:

Human-Dog Problem Tree - PART THIRTEEN

Human-Dog Problem Tree - Part Fifteen

Human: The Yard Animal

Stray Dogs Master Complex Moscow Subway System - AMAZING!!!

The concept of “Alpha” is a point of contention in many circles. I will do my best to try and explain why.

What are words?

As we communicate with one another, we often forget that words are logical constructs. They create pictures, notions, beliefs, feelings, etc. in our brains. The very same word can have a different meaning depending on the age of the speaker/listener, context, gender, cultural background, etc. Here are two examples.

Imagine two people speaking with one another. One is very young, the other very old. Say a teen and his grandma in her 90s. The word “gay” will most likely have a different meaning and create a different logical construct in their respective minds. To the teen, the word “gay” means homosexual, to his grandma, the word ‘gay” means happy.  Same word, different age, different logical construct.

How bout we send two people at a cheese tasting event.

The phrase “I got to get me some cheddar” would be taken to mean “I got to get a particular kind of cheese”. In almost any other context, the same phrase would be taken to mean “I got to get me some money”.  Same word/phrase, different context, different logical construct.

What word or phrase has different meaning based on the gender? Can you think of other examples?

In dog training circles, the term “Alpha-dog” is interpreted differently by different people. Because it’s interpreted differently there is a lot of contention as to the validity of the Alpha-dog/wolf/male concept.

To some, the term “Alpha” creates a logical construct of a high-school football quarterback, bull-headed CEO, drill sergeant, etc.

Some words that might describe these constructs would be single-minded, aggressive, strong-handed, loud, full-tilt, angry, mean and nasty, inconsiderate, etc.

These constructs are exactly the wrong kind of mind-set to bring into a dog training session.

If you are the kind of person who creates this particular construct in your mind when you hear the term “alpha”, then by all means, you shouldn’t get on board with the concept of pack leader, alpha-dog/wolf/male, pack hierarchy and other related notions.

However, there is another way to interpret the term “alpha”.

Imagine a teacher walking into a classroom for the first time.

New teacher, new students, new classroom. 

We can all imagine a teacher who has exhibited "alpha" characteristics mentioned above. This teacher operates from the position of fear and overcompensates by appearing aggressive, loud, angry, etc. We can imagine this teacher because we’ve had such a teacher.

So instead, let’s endow our teacher (we will call him Ben) with different kind of characteristics and see if he can be "alpha".

The mind-set Ben takes is not self-centered. It is instead projected outward.

Ben knows that his posture and tone of voice will affect the mood of the students (or dogs for that matter).

Ben considers it his responsibility to create an environment maximally conducive to learning. His goal is to put the students at ease, elevate their mood, and create a positive flow of information exchange.

Ben will accomplish this with an open and confident posture, a smile, an inviting demeanor, and even eye contact. Most importantly, he will approach this situation with the right kind of intention.

Sidenote: Direct eye contact is considered a sign of aggression in dog world; however, there is a difference in the aggressive stare and a kind, warm gaze. The dog knows the difference.

From the outside looking in, Ben’s classroom is his, he is undoubtedly the leader of that particular pack, and he is not aggressive, and not angry. In fact, his objective is to accomplish tranquility and balance in his environment.

This in many people’s minds is what makes him alpha.

The breeding wolf (alpha-wolf) displays the same type of behavior towards his pack as Ben displays towards his students as we can display towards our dog.

This by the way doesn’t make Ben soft. Just like his wolfy counterpart, Ben can protect the pack (the way a good manager shields his employees from corporate politics for example), act decisively if and when necessary and enforce order through cooperation. Not intimidation and fear.

That is what alpha-dog/wolf/male means to the some.

Both logical constructs are difficult to define but we know them when we see them, right?

Hitler was the first kind of alpha-male; Buddha and Jesus were the second kind of alpha-male.

Bonus:

This is the same person talking about the same topic few decades apart. The behavior of the wolves didn't change, only the focus of our words.

Related Posts:

Dharma and Greg: What Can Sitcom Characters Teach us About Dog Training

Attenuation Problem in Dog Training

Your Dog: The Main Protagonist in a Russian Melodrama

Dogs: Our Connection With the Past

I've decided to present this portion of the Human-Dog Problem Tree using concrete examples of modern life which are working against our biological nature, and then present a way in which dogs can help us get past it. Unfortunately, there are thousands of these examples and it would be impossible to list them all; so we will focus on the principles of the matter and use concrete examples as case-studies. Lets get started.

Problem: We are made to run but we either dont or suffer greatly when we do.
Solution: Education, unlearning and dogs.

Many people will find this hard to believe but humans are made to run. Evolution has designed us to be incredible runners.

Would you be surprised if I told you that from a running standpoint, humans have a better, more sound design then the fastest land animal?
Without googling it, what is the fastest land animal? Also, without googling it, what does "google" mean?

Dogs are pretty fast, they are certainly faster then humans, and make for a good example of what I'm talking about.

Sidenote: Greyhounds are the fastest dog breed. Without google, can you guess how fast they are?

Four-legged animals are designed to run short and fast. This is true of dogs as well as pumas, tigers, bears, etc.

They are fast because they have four legs.
They can only run short distances because their breathing is hard-wired to their stride. When a dog extends his front and hind legs he is able to breath-in

As he contracts his body (brings his front and hind legs close together) he is breathing out because there is less space in his torso due to compression of the rib cage and internal organs.

The expansion and contraction of the lungs therefore is tightly tied into the running tempo.

All four legged animals breath-in when legs are extended, and breath-out when their legs are close together.
This means that faster they run, faster they must inhale/exhale with their lungs. Breathing fast and deep is fine for a short amount of time, however, it cant be done for more then a minute or so (this varies from animal to animal, but in relative terms it is correct).

Contrast that with the human body design.
We walk/run on two legs which makes us slower. However, this also means that our breathing is independent of our stride. Our stride and speed DOES NOT dictate the speed at which our lungs expand and contract. We are able to control the EPMs (Exhale per Minute) regardless of the running tempo.

So when I say that humans are made to run, what I mean is that humans are made to engage in a particular kind of running. The long distance, 3-5mph type.

Lets examine this.

Our lungs and stomach "breathe" independently of our stride. This means that if we can maintain a certain tempo in a way that it will not deplete our energy reserves and fatigue our muscles (slow, 3-5 mph running fits the bill) we can control how fast (or slow in this case) we breathe which then allows us to replenish our muscles with oxygen and allow blood to work through our system. Our body is designed to do exactly that. Why?

It goes back to 90 percenters. Humans have spend 90% of their existence as hunters/gatherers which means they engaged in slow, long distance running just to survive. Er go, our biology evolved to turn us into slow, long distance running machines.

To drive a point home, lets wake up somewhere in Africa about 60 thousand years ago. What are we going to do today?
We are going to perhaps eat something (assuming there is leftover food from yesterday's hunt...no refrigerators 60 thousand years ago, correct?), drink water, pick up our spear and be on our way.

We might track game using our senses, but we will most likely rely on our dogs to help us root-out prey. Over time, this hunting activity has become integral part of both human and dog DNA. To learn more about this process, read http://dogandogs.com/everything-you-know-about-dog-training-is-wro-5

Just imagine a mind set you must engage in. There are no guarantees that we will find something, and if we do that we will catch it. This means that we will hunt for as long as necessary (all day) and we must cover vast distances. How do we do this?

Slow pace (3-5 mph). Anything faster and we would tire too quickly. Plus, we might miss something (failure to track) if we rush.

I say all this to get you to picture a scene from this ancient time when dog and man were spending all day together in slow run across vast distances. This is the picture that's still in your dog's mind. This is the picture thats part of our DNA.

My thesis is based on this premise. The premise that humans are designed to exist in a certain way; failure to respect our natural predispositions will result in all manner of problems; modern day ailments (diabetes, heart problems, obesity, etc) as well as mental issues ( panic attacks and anxiety, various social disorders, etc).

Living in alignment with our predispositions means living in harmony with your surroundings.

How come we dont run anymore? And furthermore, how come when we do, it hurts? I'm talking about various foot and knee problems humans suffer when we engage in any kind of running. Here is why.

Of course, for those that dont run, its simply because humans are wired to conserve energy, and these days its all too easy to conserve energy (cars, buses, motorcycles, segways, the list goes on).

Some however like to run, or have tried running, but find it painful. Why?

Nike. The worst thing to happen to running since bear traps and sink holes.

Nike is a company that has done something few companies have managed to do. They've managed to create their own market where there wasn't one. They've managed to give people something people didnt know they needed. Sony has done the same thing with Walkman.

Sony had released Walkman without any market research and it was a huge gamble for Sony. Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that this was a great move. Sony has made a mountain of money selling their Walkman before others got into the game and before new technology (iPod for example) replaced it. This is an example of a company that has managed to create a market where there wasn't one.

Back to Nike.

Nike invented jogging as a hobby and a pass-time for the masses. They also just happened to have invented a shoe to go with it.

Everyone started jogging in the 70s and 80s (tho i believe a concerted effort begen in the 50s), and this has persisted to this day. The shoe of choice for most is still Nike. But why is it Nike's fault that our feet, knees and back hurt after running?

When sneaker companies advertise their wares, the focus is always on the softness of the sneaker and the "cushion" of the heel, have you noticed? The fact that they are "bragging" about the thickness and the softness of the heel implies something, doesn't it? It implies that when you use this device (sneaker) to run, you are supposed to use your heel when landing on your foot. This of course is contrary to our biology and the way we are designed.

If you were running barefoot, would you land on your heel? Try exaggerating the running motion and land ONLY on your heel, see how stupid it feels. 

Humans are NOT designed to run on their heels and when we do, our entire skeletal structure suffers because of it. Heel and knee problems are pretty standard, but I wouldn't be surprised if some future study finds that many back injuries are caused by improper landing and poorly-designed sneaker (which is ALL sneakers by the way).

This is a clear example of modern lifestyle and consumerism working against our biology.

So HOW do you run correctly?

The good news is you already know how to run correctly. Chances are, if you were to take off your sneakers and run barefoot (or wearing rudimentary protection on your soles, think moccasins for example), more then likely, your running posture, stride, and landing would be on the money. And yes, we can recreate this while wearing sneakers even.

4 steps to running correctly and avoiding long term injury
(same as posture required for correct execution of any workout type exercise. Read more at http://dogandogs.com/everything-you-know-about-dog-training-is-wro-4)

1. Overall posture.
   Place your elbow on the table, make a fist and point your knuckles towards the ceiling. This will give you a visual representation of the alignment your spine, neck and head must be in while running. No leaning forward nor back, no hanging your head and looking at the ground, etc.
   Push down on your knuckles (this emulates gravity pushing down on your spine).
   Notice how stable this vertically aligned configuration really is.
   Now miss-align your wrist (imitating a head looking down) and notice how weak this makes you.
   This configuration is extremely powerful and stable if aligned properly; if not, it is equally weak and easy to compromise.
2. Breathe.
   Slow, not shallow-not deep, purposeful, meaningful breaths using both your lungs and your stomach chamber for air distribution is the way to do it.
3. Landing pads.
   DO NOT land on your heels. Nevermind the soft sneaker design and latest space age polymer. All of this is nonsense.
   If you were barefoot you would land on the ball of your foot or slightly to the side. This is how you should land while wearing sneakers no matter the softness.
4. Smile.
   This may sound silly or simplistic bit it may be the most important factor of all. SMILE.
   We all know that the way we feel is expressed in the way we look. When we are sad, we frown. When we are happy, we smile, etc.
   Due to Feedback Loop (I talk about this in another one of my posts http://dogandogs.com/dogs-can-sense-your-fear-but-how) we smile and make ourselves happy. Try it, it works. By the same token, if we frown, we can make ourselves feel sad.
   The importance of smiling while running is to enjoy this ancient activity. If we enjoy it, we will do it more often and our dog will thank us.

Finally, runners often experience something called a runner's high. It is this amazing feeling that makes you think you can go on forever. I cant help but think that this is a genetic memory of our past letting us know that we are engaging in the right kind of activities. Food for thought.

I know this post is running long but its the only way to connect these seemingly disparate
factors. To help summarize, here are the important points.

• We are genetically predisposed to conserve energy. This is why most people dont run and opt for cars, bikes, trains and what not.
• Those of us who do run, often experience foot, knee and back problems
• The reason we suffer these physical ailments is because of the features of modern existence. In our case, this is expressed in the form of a sneaker which subtly but emphatically tells you to run incorrectly (on your heels)
• We must unlearn. We must detect and eradicate these types of indoctrination techniques perpetrated by the culture of consumerism.
• We must seek to understand and educate ourselves beyond whats presented to us by the indoctrination tools like media, popular culture, and even by whats considered common and accepted knowledge.
• We must keep the promise we made to our dogs when they opted to help us in our hunt and engage in the ancient activity of dog and man running side by side

In the beginning of this post I stated that it would do the following.

Present a problem: We are made to run but we either dont or suffer greatly when we do.
And offer a solution: Education, unlearning and dogs.

I hope I've accomplished exactly that.

In the next post, we will talk about some very real and practical ways in which dogs can help us evolve-forward.

Related Posts:

Dharma and Greg: What Can Sitcom Characters Teach us About Dog Training

Be a Service-Human to Your Dog

The Issue of Indoctrination in Dog Training

Top 10 Dog Training Books

The Magnificent 7: Best Damn Dog Blogs Around. Period!!!

People as Frogs

One of the questions that comes up often is what type of reward (motivation tool) to use during dog training. Some folks swear by affection (The Monks of New Skete for example), some like to use toys (Wendy and Jack Volhard for example), and of course the old stand-by is food reward.

So which one of these (or is there a forth option?) is the best tool. The answer? It’s not up to you.

It’s up to the dog of course. What motivates the dog the most? Your job as a dog handler is to figure that out and then use that.
 
Most dogs are motivated by food, so of course food reward is the old stand-by; however, I’ve worked with dogs (two in particular come to mind) who could care less about food.

One (Lassie look alike) was all about affection. What was little bizarre about it is that Lassie was motivated particularly by male affection. Her owner was female, and her owner had worked with a female trainer before and they didn’t get very far. This dog seemed to respond and work for male affection.
 
The other (Snoopy look alike) wasn't motivated by affection, food or toys, but by interaction. She wanted someone who could match her energy and the level of excitement (the owner was an elderly lady who had another very mellow dog). Once you managed to get as hyper as she was, once we were on the same wave length of sorts, she was very easy to work with.

So how come some trainers have tremendous success always using just one method for all dogs?

There are at least two reasons.

1. It is congruent with their personality and they have become technically proficient at maximizing the desired effects. 
2. There are ways in which one can make any of these methods more effective. In other words, we can manipulate the dog's proclivities to our advantage.

We will discuss the first point in another post, for now, we will talk about making whatever method you use more effective.

To that end, whatever is used for training, shouldn't be used outside the training. Why?

Because it loses value.

Would you work for money if you had all the money in the world?

Lets drive this point home.

What is your favorite food? Pizza, cake, stake, chocolate...?

If you were fed your favorite food 3 times a day, how long before you were entirely satiated and sick of that particular food?

By the same token, if your dog receives treats throughout the day and for doing absolutely nothing, those food rewards will start to matter less.

Affection is a particularly difficult thing to withdraw, however the same principle applies.

If you are constantly smothering your dog with affection, he will not work for it. Same goes for toys.

I am not saying to deprive your dog of toys, but I am saying that certain high-value toys that are used during training should ONLY be used during training.

Here is a trick some trainers use. This is almost never shared with general public.

Trainers will reward-starve the dog before the training session to make the dog work harder and pay close(er) attention to the handler.

This may be a difficult concept to digest for some folks, but its no different than when your doctor asks you not to eat the day before a procedure.

Here is an example.

Lets say we will have a food-reward based training session tomorrow. In order to make the dog a highly cooperative party in this training session, we will choose NOT to feed the dog dinner the night before and breakfast the day of.

A healthy dog can last weeks without food, so skipping 1-2 meals is not that drastic.

You can bet that a dog who is only somewhat motivated by food will be highly motivated by food if hungry.

Same goes for affection. Trainers will keep the dog isolated for few hours the day before a training session.

Once the training begins and affection is shared with a dog that hasn't received it in a while, it becomes very valuable to the dog.

You can see how taking these techniques to their extreme can be cruel and inhumane, which is why they are NOT shared with general public.

Thinking goes like this. Your average dog owner is probably unable to apply these techniques in effective yet humane way. Besides, most dog owners don't need this level of cooperation.

However, knowing about these techniques (how they are used, and how they are applied) should be enough to convince the dog owner to pull-back on treats outside the training times (if treats are used as motivation), or hold-back the affection if affection is used as a reward. Same goes for toys.

I would love to hear about weird dogs you've encountered.

The ones that work only for male affection, or the ones who are looking for someone to match their energy level before they start "listening" to you.

What motivational tool have you used outside of the big three? (food, affection, toy).

Related Posts:

Dharma and Greg: What Can Sitcom Characters Teach us About Dog Training

Be a Service-Human to Your Dog

The Issue of Indoctrination in Dog Training

Top 10 Dog Training Books

The Magnificent 7: Best Damn Dog Blogs Around. Period!!!

People as Frogs