I was visiting a friend of mine. We had a lovely time chatting and updating each other on various things. I had been telling her about my work with the dogs and Natural Dog Training (NDT). After a couple of hours I got up to leave. Her toy poodle, who had been lying calmly beside her had started to jump up and down, barking frantically. My friend was getting irritated.
“So how do I stop that? Can I use NDT to help?”
I really had no idea. The excitement didn’t really bother me.
“If it was me and my dog, I’d be curious about whether there was something going on for me that was triggering the behaviour. I would try and check in with myself. What is going on for you?”
“Well, I’m annoyed. It stresses me out this uncontrollable excitement. What am I supposed to do about it?”
“But before that” I pressed, “What were you feeling before she started jumping that could have been a trigger for her behaviour?”
My friend thought for a second and then confessed
“I’m thinking that I am interested in our conversation and that I don’t want you to leave. I don’t know when I will see you again.”
“What about if you try and work with those feelings and see what happens?”
As we stood there my friend gave this some more thought. She shared with me that she was accepting the situation by mentally letting go of the need to hold on to me and reminding herself that I would be back soon. While she did this the little dog started to relax at her feet.
I was amazed. So was she. Can it really be that simple?
It was such a clear example of how our own thoughts and feelings can be picked up by our dogs and affect their behaviour. It reminded me to constantly stay curious about how my dogs might be responding to me and my stuff.
Hi Joanne, so pleased to see the site taking shape. Am convinced my mini-poodle knows what I’m feeling before I know it myself.
Hi Joyce, yes if we just waited for our dogs to let us know what we were feeling we would probably have a much calmer life (well speaking for myself anyway!).
And yes all your patience on your bootcamp is paying off – still a lot to develop but I thought if I waited til the right moment I’d still be waiting ….I think you taught me that!
What a terrific example of a dog manifesting its owner’s feelings. It really is so simple, but infinitely complex. 🙂
I have six Westies myself and really enjoyed your post.