Lots of people talk to animals...Not very many listen though...that's the problem. ― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
"There is another way of looking at this." - A Course In Miracles
A New Perspective
When challenges arise with our animal companion, they can be opportunities to view life from their perspective. When we observe an unwanted behavior, a frustrating pattern, or an unhealthy emotional state in our animal companion, it's important to remember that our human perspective is not the full picture of what's going on within the animal.
Until we can enter the mind of the animal, we are working with a limited perspective, a short-sided view, and a partial picture of what's happening inside the mind and body of the animal. Until we are fully aware of all conditions in the animal's environment we are missing many pieces of the puzzle. Most days we can only assume why they are behaving (or not behaving) in a particular way, or responding (or not responding) to a particular stimulus. Most days our beliefs and preconceived ideas cloud the truth surrounding the full picture.
But assumptions and set beliefs do not help our animal companions. They only hinder the healing process or the behavioral modification program.
When we are able to step back, take a deep breath, and remind ourselves that there is *always* another way of looking at things, we can then begin to view things with fresh eyes. Then we are able to bring objective observation and compassion to the situation. When we do this we remove our reactivity, emotional attachment, frustration and fear.
No matter what you are observing, practice seeing it from another perspective.
Until we can enter the mind of the animal, we are working with a limited perspective, a short-sided view, and a partial picture of what's happening inside the mind and body of the animal. Until we are fully aware of all conditions in the animal's environment we are missing many pieces of the puzzle. Most days we can only assume why they are behaving (or not behaving) in a particular way, or responding (or not responding) to a particular stimulus. Most days our beliefs and preconceived ideas cloud the truth surrounding the full picture.
But assumptions and set beliefs do not help our animal companions. They only hinder the healing process or the behavioral modification program.
When we are able to step back, take a deep breath, and remind ourselves that there is *always* another way of looking at things, we can then begin to view things with fresh eyes. Then we are able to bring objective observation and compassion to the situation. When we do this we remove our reactivity, emotional attachment, frustration and fear.
No matter what you are observing, practice seeing it from another perspective.
We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate for having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein do we err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth. ― Henry Beston
Bridging the Gap Between Animals and Humans ™
The “traditional" family has always consisted of the humans being the focal point. Pets have been placed on a level below us or on the back burner.
My intent is to bridge that gap. The animals we choose to share a home with are our companions. We are their guardians. We have a responsibility to treat them as family.
That is why my approach to animal training is different.
I focus on every person in the home and their individual relationship with the animal(s) in the home; just as much as I focus on the animals of concern. I believe that by teaching and guiding every member of your family is how we create success that lasts for life. By using effective, safe, and humane training, while establishing a conscious connection with animal companions, families see successful, rewarding, and long-lasting results.
My intent is to bridge that gap. The animals we choose to share a home with are our companions. We are their guardians. We have a responsibility to treat them as family.
That is why my approach to animal training is different.
I focus on every person in the home and their individual relationship with the animal(s) in the home; just as much as I focus on the animals of concern. I believe that by teaching and guiding every member of your family is how we create success that lasts for life. By using effective, safe, and humane training, while establishing a conscious connection with animal companions, families see successful, rewarding, and long-lasting results.
Lost In Translation
Every species and each individual animal communicates differently. These messages are often lost in translation. Most of us don't communicate in the language of animals. You and I do not speak rabbit, bird, dog, cat, or tortoise, but we can learn how to effectively listen to them by both observing their behavior, and listening to their needs and desires.
Our animal companions are constantly communicating their desires and needs to us, but we often fail to recognize the signals. As their guardians we must learn to understand their behavior in order to hear to what our animal companions are trying to tell us.
Our animal family members are trying to get our attention all the time! But we don’t create the time or effort to really hear them, or when we do make the effort, we don’t recognize or understand the signals they are sending.
Opening up those lines of communication will change both your lives and your animal companion's life dramatically. My intent is to help you learn how to step outside of the situation and become a more conscious observer.
"When we understand that all animals are our relatives, perhaps then we will treat them as our brothers and sisters." ~ A.D. Williams
