I pride myself on 1 thing. Getting to the root of the problem.
I want to positively affect the dog and get the results that are lasting. I see many people walk their dog with a front harness. My question is why? Why not just teach your dog how to yield to the leash pressure instead of pulling you across town. Behavioral issues such as fear or aggression can be treated symptomatically.
For example: when the dog goes to bite I punish them. Now I’m not going to get into the details as it depends on the case, but this is just treating the symptoms.
Its the same thing when you have a cold. I know what I do! I go to Walgreens and buy a bottle of Mucinex. While I might feel better, I didnt get to the root cause which might be that my immune system is weak.
I must say that I probably always been living like this and looking at life from this viewpoint.
At 19 years old I quit smoking cold turkey. I went to a holistic doctor in Harlem NYC who really impacted my life. His name was Dr. Koyaki. I had no idea I would embark on a journey to where I am at now. I started reading and learning about spirituality. He also introduced me to my teacher Doc Woodbiine.
This is when I learned about energy in the body. It was similar to yoga what he taught me. It was a mix of chinese medicine along with ancient Indian medicine. I felt exuberant after 2 weeks. I also felt excited about life and full of a newfound energy that I could and still can’t describe in words.
He taught me about my body on a deeper level. I learned how a behavior such as breathing can have an effect on my state of mind. Also getting enough sleep, sleeping earlier, not eating after a certain time, working my body out physically, eating healthy foods, and being around positive people all affected my energy levels and state of mind.
Now I know that sound like a lot because it is. And some of those things on that list seemingly have nothing to do with the other, but it does. I believe its more of challenge for us humans than dogs because we constantly live in our heads, dogs don’t. They can easily live in the moment. This is the holistic approach. Its why I put emphasis on how people live with their dogs, how they socialize them, the energy they are projecting and other details of their life. Everything matters even when you think it doesn’t.
Most people assume that their dog is learning when they do training. But in reality your dog is always learning how to interact with the world every second of every day.
I know you guys are ready to have great relationship with your dog. Hire a professional dog trainer. NONE OF THOSE PETSMART OR PETCO DOG TRAINERS!!! A lot of dog training in these places teaches your dog that you are just a food dispenser. They don’t teach you the other 90% that you need to learn. Get to the root cause and be free from the issue permanantly instead of using the bandaid effect.