I think you could watch this video and say “Well you didn’t get that dog to drop it, he dropped it on his own.” And to that I would say, “exactly.”
I want my dog to make the best decisions for me AND him. And I want him to make that choice free and willingly. There are many reasons Gunther was able to make this choice.
The first is, I practice trust and love with Gunther in everything I do with him; we communicate and rarely argue. If I do choose to argue with him, it is because I know in my heart he will make that decision with me given the information he lacked that caused him to question my authority.
This video is very subtle and it’s because our language at liberty is advanced because we practice a lot.
The second reason is Gunther was free fed for the better part of his life and we practice a near free feeding situation. Where he asks for food and I give it to him. He is well fed. He has a lot of variety already in his diet. He has the opportunity to stress free (meaning there’s no other dogs around and he knows he has permission), eat a dead bird. We raise quail at home.
Because all his needs are met, he can choose emotional and physiological regulation. Just as in humans, when all of our needs are met, we are enabled to reach higher. And what is higher is peace and freedom. The peace of knowing no one is going to take this bird or bother me and the freedom to run unhindered. His motivation to drop the bird comes from one, it’s really difficult to carry and two, he does not want to continuously fend off dogs from his prize. It’s taxing. Once I deny that I will help him with that, he needs a new plan to drop the bird, on his own. He is clever, patient, calm and confident enough wait for the other dogs to be distracted and bury it. By allowing my dog to pick up a problem and handle it on his own, I respect his intelligence and guarantee a strong relationship.
Here is some helpful context!
• I do not have a higher value treat. I have dry dog kibble. He comes to me because he made that decision on his own given our communication and the information from the environment. I merely thank him with dry dog kibble and my exuberance.
•Why not teach him drop it?
When you work with dogs granted freedom, the bottom line is trust and communication. I will never win. There is no winning in the face of a delicious dead bird, a hyper playful dog, some kind of delectable poop, a chase. My job is to truly hold a dog’s best interest and teach him how to get there.
•I used the word authority. Merriam-Webster translates authority as, “a person with a high level of knowledge or skill in a field.” And in this context my knowledge exceeds my dog’s and I am asking him to come into that.
•Merriam-Webster also translates authority as, “lawful control over the affairs of a political unit (as a nation).” I do not intend “authority” to be read as such in this piece.
•My leverage in this situation comes from knowledge, not the fragile illusion of control.
•Gunther’s competence in this situation comes from the whirlpool method. See last post.