Infinitely Malleable…The Dog Mind and Human Mind Connection
August 14th, 2010 by LittlestMusher | Posted in Be The Lead Dog
Tags: Human Canine Bond, Training Consideration
Here’s some interesting food for thought I cam across this weekend. A recent article in Scientific American looks at another aspect of the nearly infinite variation in dog breeds.
Read it here: Changing Minds: Has Selective Breeding Restructured Some Dog Brains?
Thinking about this from a Life…Through Dogs perspective, it gave me pause to consider how body type and shape affects how we sense, perceive and interact with the world — for both humans and dogs alike.
Humans tend to treat many dogs the same, presuming they are all (take your pick) noisy, keen sense of smell/hearing/eyesight, rambunctious, will bite, etc. etc. Yet as many variations as there are in humans, there are at least that many in dogs, even within the same breed. Perhaps more.
So what can we learn from this? One lesson that comes to mind (pun intended) is that being fully present is so important, to see and experience exactly what it in front of you, not what you expect to find. Whether dogs or humans, this opens us up to the infinite possibilities of the world, and a way to be true to ourselves.
On a less philosophical level, it also gives us the reminder to provide a relationship and training with a given dog which meets that specific dog’s needs. Needs which will vary, sometimes subtly, sometimes not, from every other dog on the planet.
What do you think? What lessons jump out at you?
it takes time to know your dog, so give it time and observe your dog and experiment and eventually, there is equilibrium
It’s interesting how you note that it’s important to provide a relationship that’s specific to a dog’s needs. We have three Siberian Huskies, and each has a completely different personality — one is very gregarious, one is goofy and the other is very shy. We interact with each of them differently. We love each of them the same and we get loads of love back. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
I couldn’t agree with you more about “being fully present:” our dogs are so in the moment and we must be attentive to them..they have so much to teach and I am blessed to be able to work with many different breeds and histories of dogs…Lin