Every week I have a dog training course lecture with a group of eager adults. They all vary in profession, from a stay at home mom/dad to a researcher in virology, and quite a wide range of age - 20s to 50s. Whenever I see a new face, I ask them what got them to take this initiative to attend a dog training course. Interestingly, most of them share about their experiences with dogs and want to understand them better. A small number are actually considering to become a trainer.
Yesterday's topic was about tools and equipments. Me, being me, one question of a new student leads to me talking about all sorts of things, experiences and discuss various topics about behaviors.
"What is the most appropriate and ideal punishment?" Without realizing, I had a smile. And the students who've been in my class smiled as well. They knew what my answer would be.
"Why is the dog being punished?", responded by the more experienced student.
This led to an hour of discussions about situations they've experienced and had hands-on exercises during this hour. We discussed resource guarding, to territory guarding, to behaviors that I usually get asked for help - leash pulling, barking, slipping off lead, etc.
In the end of the class, we had a further chat. They realized I asked them a lot of "why". Why should a dog have to wait until eat? Why can't a dog be allowed to move away when being hugged? Why are dogs puller away from a bush when they want to sniff? And the discussion usually ends with "yeah true, I didn't need the dog to do such and such".
Dog training has been misunderstood by the general dog owners as obedience training. Over the years, I have honestly done very little obedience training with my clients except for recall. Trainers also specialize - specialists in fear and aggression, agility sports, show dogs, and various working dog skills. I work mainly with domestication of canine companions. Animals have very primal basic needs - to mate, to eat, to be safe, to survive. So do humans, but with an addition of values and morality, desires, ego, etc. This is what makes us human. We can plan, we can adjust, we can look for better solutions.
With such a rich discussion last night, I woke up this morning from a fascinating dream. I was talking to a Baboon who spoke English! And I asked him why he chose not to eat smaller (younger?) insects/animals. He said he didn't need to, he's not hungry. "And why go for the young ones when there are other options?"
I thought about what he meant. I suppose the core message is that we as human beings, have the ability to think, to plan, to make better decisions. We don't just react based on instinct, we have the ability to make conscious decisions.