“The social dynamics of a wolf pack is often used as a model for dog-dog and dog-human interactions. I have seen dog people (and some wolf people as well) caught up in the idea of always maintaining high rank by aggressive means, believing their only choices are between forcibly dominating the animal or submitting to it. The problem with this approach is two-fold. Firstly, aggression may well escalate, and secondly, an either-or choice between forcible dominance or submission is not the only choice available to wolves, to dogs or to humans.”
— from the Forward, On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals, by Turid Rugaas
Having been several years since we had raised a puppy, and with the day approaching for bringing home the 8-week old Welsh Corgi who is to join our household, we got busy reading up. "Reading up," especially since the continuing pandemic precautions will keep us home and away from the "obedience" classes we have relied on with new puppies in the past. This time we will be on our own.
The truth is, time elapsed is not our only concern. Puppy training has never been our most celebrated success. Love? Yes. Training? Uh, no. This time, we resolved to get it right.
But what is “right?” It turns out that there is quite a difference of opinion on best practice. There is, of course, the long-standing, “whip-them-into-shape” theory of “dominance”. Here, the eager trainer will find books and accessories touting the need to teach your dog that you are the boss. Choke collars, prong collars, shock collars, and the “alpha roll” feature prominently in this school of thought. Language is stern. “House breaking” is a big objective. There is lots of talk about “pack mentality,” drawing upon the genetic linkage of dogs to wolves.
There is, however, another school of thought – the “dog friendly” approach. Dogs may well be the genetic descendants of wolves, this approach acknowledges, but understanding wolf behavior no more clarifies dog behavior than understanding ape behavior predicts how humans will necessarily interact. “Breaking” is less the focus in this philosophy than “training”. Aversion and pain are eschewed in favor of incentivizing. Treats and praise replace thwacks and volts. Trainers following this path capitalize on the dog’s innate desire to please – and its subsequent rewards – rather than building on avoidance of pain and instilling fear. Dominance gives way to partnership.
It hasn’t been hard to decide which path we will follow. We look around and observe how commonly the “dominance” theory has been employed - in the way humans have historically approached their pets, to be sure, but each other as well, and all of creation – and see how poorly it has served us. Even among people of faith. Having wrestled the almost felonious interpretation of “domination” out of the Genesis assignment to have “dominion,” we have armed ourselves with a divine minting of James Bond’s “License to Kill.” And kill we have – each other, the air, the soil, and the very atmosphere that suspends us. We have, to put it pithily, been hellbent on being dominant.
One obvious problem with that approach is that, however satisfying it might feel to the dominant few, it simply doesn’t work very well. Just look at the human community – interpersonally, internationally, politically. “Winning” is very loudly celebrated, but it should be obvious by now to even the casual observer that even when we win we lose. When we get our way by coercion rather than consent, we condemn ourselves to a never ending application of power and energy to "keep the lid on" that depletes and diminishes everyone involved.
Another problem is that it’s sinful. People who purport to follow Jesus certainly ought to know better. The word “dominion” is etymologically the same as “lordship,” and clearly the model of lordship that Jesus lived bears little resemblance to the practices of domination we employ.
As Richard Rohr observes, “Jesus did not come to impose Christendom like an imperial system. Every description he offers of God’s Reign—of love, relationship, non-judgment, and forgiveness, where the last shall be first and the first shall be last—shows that imposition is an impossibility! Wherever we have tried to force Christianity on people, the long-term results have been disastrous.”
And so the puppy is coming home – a home within which we have and will often fail to live up to that biblical model, but toward which we aspire. Perhaps together we, the puppy and our whole growing menagerie, will learn from and teach one another something life-giving about life together.
And so, there is much training in store - all around - around the house and around the world.
The treats are ready.
To be given and received.
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