March 11, 2011

How Your Emotions Affect Your Dog's Behavior.

Does your dog have a behavior issue that is a total puzzlement to you and does not seem to change no matter what your dog trainer does? Susan's guest this week, Kevin Behan, dog trainer and author of Your Dog Is Your Mirror:The Emotional Capacity of Our Dogs and Ourselves offers a startling new way of thinking about the root of your dog's actions. Your dog's behavior, emotions and cognition are driven by your emotions, some of which you may be unaware. This has huge implications for finally understanding why our dogs do what they do, how to remedy problem behaviors and most surprisingly reveal your own emotions that may be hidden from you, yet in plain sight, reflected by your dog.

Episode Segments:

Wild About Pets: The Emotional Mirror Kevin explains how dogs view the world, and how they act as an emotional mirror to their owners. He then explains the concept of the group mind, and how a dog is able to tap into that. (photo courtesy of NaturalDogTraining.com)
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Wild About Pets: Emotional Grounding Most dog owners misinterpret the fundamental dynamic between the dog and the owner. Kevin will tell us how and why. Then - how dogs are able to pick up on our emotions, (even when we don’t), and how to ground a frantic dog.
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Wild About Pets: Natural Training In part three, Kevin talks about the reasons behind your dog’s unwanted behavior, and way to correct it, through his unique training model. Also - the real reason dogs are in our lives. (photo courtesy of NaturalDogTraining.com)
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Links to Related Websites:

Your Dog Is Your Mirror: The Emotional Capacity Of Our Dogs And Ourselves In Your Dog Is Your Mirror, dog trainer Kevin Behan proposes a radical new model for understanding canine behavior: a dog’s behavior and emotion, indeed its very cognition, are driven by our emotion. The dog doesn’t respond to its owner based on what the owner thinks, says, or does; it responds to what the owner feels. And in this way, dogs can actually put people back in touch with their own emotions.

Natural Dog Training Natural Dog Training is about how dogs see the world and what this means in regards to training. The first part of this book presents a new theory for the social behavior of canines, featuring the drive to hunt, not the pack instincts, as seminal to canine behavior. The second part reinterprets how dogs actually learn. The third section presents exercises and handling techniques to put this theory into practice with a puppy. The final section sets forth a training program with a special emphasis on coming when called.

Look While You Listen! Click here to view the photos Susan and her guest are discussing, and for other useful links!

Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Kevin Behan Kevin Behan is a veteran police-dog trainer, author of 'Natural Dog Training' and 'Your Dog Is Your Mirror', and is one of the nation's foremost experts in the rehabilitation of aggressive and problem dogs. He trained his first dog at age ten, and originally studied the dominance theory under his father, John Behan, who pioneered the use of trained dogs outside the military, and was one of the first in America to establish dog training as a career. Through his training of thousands of dogs for aggression, obedience, and security forces, the establishment of his own kennel, and his work with European police-dog trainers, Kevin began to move away from the conventional models and developed his own training techniques. In recognition that something profound was missing in the discussion of dogs, he founded the Natural Dog Training method in the 1980's, and continues to transform the way people view their pets through his blog, training and seminars. Kevin's Website