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When I was in 7th grade, my chem teacher told us about an experiment involving a frog

Apparently, once upon a time, in not so distant past, some scientists decided to place a frog in a pot filled with boiling water.

The frog naturally jumped right out, looked at the white-coat and said "wtf?".

Then, they did it again, except this time the water was lukewarm. The frog stayed-put.

The scientists then decided to warm-up the water gradually and observe the frog. The frog stayed-put.

So they continued to increase the temperature gradually until the pot was boiling over.  This time, the frog didnt jump out. It stayed put until it was cooked.

Frog legs anyone?

It was the gradual increase in temperature that boiled the frog without the frog even noticing

The same is happening to us.

If we take a (very very) conservative estimate and say that human species have existed (the current model) for approximately 100 thousand years, this means that we have spent 90% of our existence as nomads, scavengers, rooters, gatherers, etc.

About 10 thousand years ago we settled and started planting rice and similar grains, thus began the agricultural age.

Few hundred years ago, the industrial age started and was characterized by widespread migrations and displacement of labor.

Its only in the last 50 years or so, that we can say the true technological age began.

Does this sound like a gradual "increase" to anyone?
 

Despite the fact that we live in a "modern era", we would be wrong to assume that our evolutionary proclivities that developed over a millenia have somehow gone away just because I'm typing this on a computer. Here are few examples.

Example:

Early humans would have been well advised to conserve energy. And in fact, they did. This is part of our DNA. This is why its hard for us to get our assess in the gym. This is why we invented the wheel, then horse and buggy, then car, train, bus, etc. This is why we tend to spend half hour finding a spot near the entrance of the mall instead of parking in the back.

Another Example:

Back in those early days, some 100 thousand years ago, high colorie food was scarce

When we managed to find natural sources of simple carbohydrates and sugar, we gorged. This was a good thing since it allowed for the development of the prefrontal cortex (the area of the brain responsible for rational thought), located directly behind our forehead.

Also, this is why when you haven't eaten in a while your sugar level drops and you become cranky. The prefrontal cortex (aka neo cortex) is literally starved.

In other words, we are evolutionarily predisposed to gorge on simple carbs and sugar.

However, nowdays, these foods are easy to come by, and if you combine that with our tendency to conserve energy you get one fat nation.

These are physiological factors that have snuck up on us.

There are of course psychological factors as well that might take an even greater toll.

Example:

How come every culture knows its NOT ok to kill a fellow human being? 

Again, this is something that early humans understood, it is real, there are consequences, and its part of our internal wiring.

How come no one feels bad for the government when Willie Nelson owes it millions of dollars?

Or, how come its not considered cheating when you lie on your tax return?

Its because our DNA, our brain, is not wired for TAX laws. Tax is a relatively new invention and hasn't been internalised. (Lets hope it never does)

Side note: In 1990 (if my middle brain serves me correctly), IRS changed their tax code to require every parent to furnish their child's Social Security Number on the tax return. That year, around 10 million children that "existed" as dependents the previous year simply disappeared. hmmm

The Nature of Modern Existence (NOME) is froth with examples of physiological and psychological static.

We are quite literally boiling over, like the frog, without even noticing, like the frog. So notice.

How do you think this reflects on the Human-Dog relationship?

Consider This:

When a puppy is born, it thinks it is about to spend its life with the early, nomadic version of humans. Little does the puppy know that the frog has taken its revenge. 

Hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Leave a comment so I know you were here and please share this post with your friends and family.

This article continues our exploration of the second branch of Human-Dog problem tree.

In the first section of the series, I've laid out the misalignment of our biology and its effects on human-dog relationship.
In the second section, I've laid out how modern day living puts us out of balance with our psychology which affect our relationship with ourselves as well as everything and everyone around us. Dogs make this imbalance really apparent.
In this section, I will talk about a transitional nature of today's society.

Let me start by admitting that saying something like "today's society is in a transitional phase" is really easy. We are always in a transitional state and the only thing that's constant is change. Here is how I mean it.

As a species, we've spent 90 thousand years

• Hunting
• Gathering
• Scavenging
• Migrating
• Living in small tribes (up to 150 people)
• Focusing really hard on our needs at Level 1 and 2 of Maslow's Hierarchy

Then for the next 10 thousand years we've spend our time

• Settling in larger farming and living communities
• Planting
• Growing
• Building

Note that the second phase (the Aggrecoltural phase of human progression) lasted considerably less time.

Then about 200 years ago we embarked on a new chapter in our journey and the Industrial Revolution began; characterized by the following

• Massive migrations to more populated areas
• Change in our work habits (work became more sedentary and results were invisible to the worker) 
• We started developing entitlement for basic needs and safety

Again, notice that the Industrial age lasted only about 200 years, much shorter than the Agricultural age and shorter still than hunting/gathering phase.

In the last 50 years or so, we've experienced Information age. Some say that the Information age is over and that we are in the Communications age. In either case, this phase looks all too familiar.

• Our sense of entitlement to basic needs and safety is now a full blown addiction sometime to our own detriment
• Our work habits are now even more sedentary; our lives are arranged to expand as little energy as possible (cars, escalators, chairs with wheels on'em, etc)
• Corporation dictate government as well as personal policies. This point deserves its own post, but we'll save it for later.

So first we must presuppose that our biology (both mental and physical) is best tuned for the kind of environment we as species spent most time in. There is an overwhelming scientific data that supports this assertion.
If thats the case, then our biology is best tuned for hunter/gatherer type of living. Let me ask you a question.

If you did live as a hunter/gatherer, what kind of relationship would you have with your dog?

If you answered "a symbiotic one" you would be 100% correct.

If we lived the way of the Paleolithic man, all issues -or what we perceive as issues- we have with our dogs would disappear and this I can guarantee.

So first lets take the responsibility and say that we are at fault and not the dog. Second, lets recognize that our needs have changed. We needed dogs for hunting, tracking, alarm, etc. Now, we need them as baby-replacements and companions.

In some ways, we have made a very clumsy leap "forward" but we cant expect dogs to do the same. If they are to give us what WE need, we must give them what THEY need. In this regard, dogs are perhaps the most important factor in humans successfully transitioning into the next age, the age of Enlightenment. How?

Lets save that discussion for the next post.

Related Posts:

Be a Service-Human to Your Dog

The Issue of Indoctrination in Dog Training

Top 10 Dog Training Books

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

People as Frogs

The Nature of Modern Existence… and Dogs – SECTION TWO

In the first section of the modern-life problem tree, we’ve seen how the nature of modern existence puts us in a misalignment with our biology. 

In this section, we will discus psychological factors affecting our existence and how it relates to human-dog relationship. 

One of my favorite psychologists is Abraham Maslow. Why? 

Maslow has come up with an ingenious way of classifying the human psychological condition. Maslow’s Theory of Needs is one of those rare gems that fits into Eastern philosophies just as easily as Greek. Both Buddha and Socrates would have been proud. 

It also fits into modern schools of philosophy. From Kant to Freud, Nietzsche to Frankl. 

Sidebar: These 4 guys are basically 4 different schools of though (sounds familiar dog trainers?) and pillars of modern philosophy and psychology. The root difference between them are in the disagreement as to what motivates us as humans. Is it will to logic, sexual instinct, will to power or will to meaning? But let’s get back to Maslow.

You can “drape” Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs over anything. Here is a non-dog example. My friend Jill asked me once “why do people ride motorcycles?”, so I decided to answer her in my motorcycle blog using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which you can find at http://www.2wheeltips.com/magazine/read/why-do-we-ride-_116.html 

Both people AND philosophies can be entirely classified within Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

The only caveat is that different areas of your life will fit into different parts of the hierarchy, Let me give you an example:

When it comes to Dog Training, you might fit into Level 4 (high esteem), however, when it comes to your finances, you might fit into Level 2 (need for safety). 

We will go over these levels in a moment. 

Also, the same area of your life will fit into different levels as you move through life. 

Example: You might have been born very poor and your basic need for survival wasn’t assured (this is Level 1); however, as you got older, you’ve managed to provide yourself with shelter, safety, money, things, etc. (Moving up to Levels 2 and 3). As you got older, you wanted to give-back, so you’ve started a charity, which moved you into Level 4 and 5 and so on. 

Here is a visual depiction of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 

Lets move through Maslow’s Hierarchy as a 90 percenter. 

I’ve asked my Paleolithic friend Java, to write me a letter from the past and tell me how he spends his days. I also asked him to map it to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs; this is what he wrote.

For 90 thousand years, as a human, I lead a nomadic life, living day-to-day, unsafe, using primitive shelters, and so on. Clearly, I spend most of my time leading a Level 1 existence of Maslow’s Hierarchy. 

I build fire and primitive shelter, sometimes a sleep in a cave; this provides safety from the elements and nocturnal hunters. This mean that I spend the rest of my time at Level 2. 

The fact that I live in a pack, extended familial unit, or a tribe, does offer me some level of safety (Level 3).  

Of course, sometimes I do engage in Level 4 (High esteem) actions. Example: Getting really good at chucking a spear, laying a trap, skinning an animal, and so on. 

Also, someone needs to lead my tribe on a hunt, if I’m able to bring in the biggest animal they will elect me Chief and my chances of procreation will drastically improve. (Level 4 tied into Level 1. After all, procreation is survival)

On a rare quiet night, I like to hang out in my cave and carve pictures on the wall of the animals I’ve killed that day. (Level 5).

Thanks Java, that was very revealing. What can we learn from this?

This part is very important so “listen” closely. 

For 90 thousand years, better part of our day was spent at Levels 1 and 2. Surviving was a full time job. 

Now days, Levels 1 and 2 are all taken care of. 

We have plenty to eat (most people in most countries); water comes out of a spigot which is in our large, safe shelters. We live in such an age of abundance that our lives are fully taken care of at Levels 1 and 2. Remember that Levels 1 and 2 were the levels where we spend almost all of our time as 90 percenters. 

We no longer have to pursue survival and safety, we are free to engage in higher Levels, but do we?

Let me conclude this post by tying psychological factors affecting our existence with human-dog relationship.

Psychologically, we are unchallenged. Our primal instincts have atrophied. We are lulled into a false sense of security and survival-entitlement. We are not extending ourselves (psychologically) to reach Levels 3,4,5 or the “secret” Level 6 (more on that later). 

There are of course biological factors for this. We are evolutionarily predisposed for conservation of energy (mental and physical). 

What I am suggesting is that we can override this safety-mechanism that was embedded in our DNA thousands of years ago and extend ourselves beyond the current levels. How? Dogs of course. 

But before I get into that, let me stress the following. 

Humans of today, have a very peculiar psychological unrest. You feel it, no? 

While I’m the first to question most scientific data, especially data of a statistical nature, all research in the levels of happiness points to the fact that people’s happiness is at an all time low. Why? 

Because this thing we use to do for thousands of years is missing. Trust me, if you had to worry about survival and safety, so many of the things that bring you stress and seem important would be irrelevant to you. 

So what do you do about it? Go live a nomadic life style, hunt and scavenge for food? Build primitive shelters? Hmmm…that’s not a bad idea, we should all be so lucky to be able to fend for ourselves if need be, but that’s not what I’m suggesting. If it’s illogical to go back, lets move forward (or since it’s a hierarchy, let’s move up).

Dog can help us move up this hierarchy, here is how. 

At Level 3 of Maslaw’s Hierarchy is need for Social inclusion. Both humans and dogs are social animals. I know people with social anxieties whose sole contact with other humans is when they take their dogs out to the dog park. If dogs can help people like this, imagine what they can do for you? It is almost trait to state that dogs can fill a very real need for companionship. People with pets are shown to live longer, feel better and so on. If you know someone who doesn’t have a dog in their life, get them one for their birthday. 

At Level 4 of Maslaw’s Hierarchy is need for mastery. This is the level at which life-long martial artists reside; or anyone who is really good at something; someone who has mastered their craft, whether it’s motorcycling, juggling, dancing, dog training? Of course. Mastering the skills required to become a good dog trainer would certainly move us up a level. 

At Level 5 of Maslaw’s Hierarchy is need for Self-Actualization. To borrow army’s slogan “be all you can be” kind of thing. We can enter competitions with our dog (agility, tracking, whatever). Of course, training your canine will require infinite amount of creativity and patience; and more difficult something is the more value it has. 

At Level 6 of Maslaw’s Hierarchy is need for Self-Transcendence. (Maslow added this level later in his life). This is the level at which you go beyond yourself and put needs of others (peoples, dogs, places, whatever) before your own. Maybe you decide to teach someone how to achieve what you’ve achieved. We instinctively have respect for teachers, now you know why. 

Those who volunteer their time, skills, wisdom and share it with others are engaging in legacy-building. We may not live forever but our impact can be felt forever, so make it good. 

Last but not least, the importance of all this is so that we can model our own behavior and “pull-up” other aspects of our life (Fitness, leadership, relationship, spirituality, finances, etc, etc) up the hierarchy. Here are few examples: 

If you are a fan of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), you know that collegiate wrestlers do really well in MMA. Why? One of the reasons is because they know what it takes to get good at something, they know how hard they have to work, they’ve done it before and they put their nose to the grind and do it. In other words, they can model their own behavior to move up the hierarchy. 

I’ve read somewhere that Donald Trump, in his typical boastful style, has stated that he’s not afraid of risks even if it results in him going broke. He is confident that he can become rich again. Why? He can model his own behavior to replicate results. In other words, he can model his own behavior to move up the hierarchy.

Conclusion. 

During the first 90 thousand years of human evolution, bulk of our time was spent surviving and ensuring our safety. Now, our society has evolved to the point where survival and safety is built-into the nature of modern existence. What do we do with our time surplus? If we are to maintain our physical and mental health, we must seek to move up the hierarchy. Nothing less then the survival of our species is at stake. No worries, your dog will be your teacher. He is already self-transcendent. 

In the next post, we will examine the transitional nature of our current society and how it affects our relationship with dogs. 

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

Since the beginning of the human-dog relationship, dogs were there to sound an alarm for incoming intruders, help us hunt, herd our sheep, search and rescue our loved ones and the list goes on and on...

These days, we no longer need dogs to alert us of incoming intruders because our homes are equipped with alarms; few of us go hunting, and even fewer have sheep that need herding...so have dogs outlived their usefulness? Of course not.

Now they are helping us become better humans by teaching us the importance of exercise, leadership and even human companionship.

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

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Top 10 Dog Training Books

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

People as Frogs

Time for a review. Put on your spectacles, here we go.

While I have pulled my information from many sources -dog training, human evolution and neurosciences, dog and human psychology, Buddhism, and the list goes on- I should add that I am unaware of any books, DVDs, etc that have explored this subject from as many angles as I intend to.

I believe that both dog trainers and dog owners will find valuable information in these pages not found anywhere else.

I want to thank you for your attention, patience and criticism while I present my ideas and hope we all learn a lot in the process.

In part one; I've laid out the bird’s eye view of the thesis, which can be summarized in the following.

There has never been more information on human-dog relationships, usually expressed in the form of dog training books, DVDs, TV show, etc.

Conversely, the human-dog relationship has never been in worse shape. Why?

We will explore exactly that in these pages.

I have laid out the issues –as I see them- in a three branched problem tree.

First branch related to dog owners receiving partial information from dog professionals. This is not an accusation, but rather a study in the game of telephones.

Second branch related to the fact that our biology is ill-suited for modern life style. We will explore these issues in later articles.

The third branch of the problem tree is related to human nature, preconceived notions and sub-standard mind-set as dog-owners “enter” the training session. We will explore these issues in later articles.

In part two, we talked about the importance of spending actual time with your dog (companionship). Its one of 4 things that is crucial to dog trainers being successful at what they do. At the same time, its one piece of the puzzle missing from most dog/dog-owner relationships.

Why is this important?

I maintain that the extent of your (dog owner’s) success will depend directly on the extent to which a dog owner is able to replicate these invisible attributes possessed by dog trainers.

In Part three (we are still in the first branch of the problem tree) we talked about the issue of indoctrination. Having a firm belief in one “style” of dog training can be very detrimental to dog trainers. But more importantly, it can be detrimental to dogs and dog owners.

In part four we are taking some time to review, however in part five we will talk about “detachment”.

Dog professionals are detached from the process of dog training. This may sound like a bad thing or even an accusation, but as you will see, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Join me in Part Five, it should be interesting.

Lets starts with two basic assumptions.

1. There is more information now on human-dog relationship then ever before and its easier to access then ever. Most of the information is free.
2. Despite all this, human-dog relationship has never been in a worse predicament. For many dogs/owner pairs, the living situation is equivalent to a war zone resulting in dogs being sent to a shelter and later executed.

Why is there such inverse relationship between abundant information and abysmal state of affairs between dogs and humans?

I will argue that there are 3 reasons:

1. Dog professionals (by that I mean dog trainers, TV personalities, authors, etc) are unable to relate certain type of information to their clients (dog owners and consumers of such information). Not because they (dog professionals) don’t want to but because they can’t. And not because they don’t know it but because they don’t see it.

   The second reason is…

2. The nature of modern human existence is such that it doesn’t suit humans, much less dogs. We live contrary to our evolutionary code. 10 thousand years of agricultural and then industrial revolution is not enough time to change our underlying psychobiology.

   And third and perhaps the most important...
   
   

3. The nature of human condition.
   
   We cant blame dog professionals for trying to train us and failing. And we cant blame our environment either. We must take responsability and bring certain necesary attributes to the table. Attributes like compassion, understanding and love.  We will talk about these attributes later. For now...

Lets examine why Dog Trainers are unable to relate fundamental principles that they themselves use when dealing with dogs.

There are 4 things I’ve been able to identify that dog professionals have but don’t teach nor share with general public, and yet, these fundamental principles are key to their success.
 

But first, how come they are not sharing this info?

If you wanted to learn how to swim, I think you could NOT pick a better teacher then a fish. A fish could teach you how to swim your ass off.

Its effective in water, it has mastered the techniques necessary to move through water, it has all the attributes we need to emulate in order for us to be strong swimmers as well.

But...

Don’t ask a fish to teach you how to breathe under water; cuz fish don’t know.

Dog professionals are exactly the same as fish.

They can teach you techniques but you will not necessarily replicate their success and be able to “breathe under water”.

I am sure you’ve read books, watched TV shows or DVDs, paid dog trainers to come to your house and train you…and yet, you were unable to breathe underwater on your own. You were not able to replicate their success and in fact, you may have made things worse. Why?

In PART TWO, we will examine those 4 fundamental principles used by dog professionals that are NOT taught to dog owners, and yet, dog professionals apply them without thinking.

Does anyone want to take a stab at what those 4 principles are before I post them? No peeking :-)

Related Posts:

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4 attributes dog professionals have that makes them successful at what they do

The Nature of Modern Existence...and Dogs

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