We wanted to share a really important conversation between neuroscientist and veterinarian Dr. Kathy Murphy, animal behaviourist Andrew Hale, and applied ethologist Kim Brophey, that lights a fire in the dog training and behaviour world and sits in line with our process and beliefs at Dog Smart.
You may have noticed we don't necessarily train you guys or your dogs like a typical class environment would, you probably noticed the enrichment field, that is not just for the dogs, it's for me as well, it part of my Q&A sheet for them.
We called the company Dog Smart because we set it up to teach people to think smarter about dogs, with a better understanding comes a better relationship, with a better relationship there's a want, a desire to be with you and work with you and to trust and follow you, in the time we spend together we are trying to find the puzzle pieces of "who is your dog"
We do this because dogs that are better understood live better lives and you enjoy a higher quality of time with them in the process.
Most training is based around operant conditioning, its something the dog training world has clung onto with its claws, but it doesn't complete the puzzle, it's just part of it, we live with emotional beings and operant conditioning is far to binary to fully explain behaviour. And you can't fix everything with it, all you leash pulled will understand that.
These beautiful animals are emotional beings and like every person they all have individual needs and see the world through their own lens and their voice needs to be heard and understood.
I could speak for hours about this but if you have some time and want to listen to a thought provoking conversation and one that needs to happen more often in the dog world, take a listen. below and I hope you enjoy it.
Oliver