I was recently teaching health and nutrition to my students and realised that our eating choices have a scientific and social basis. Science comes into it when we knowingly choose whats good for us (protein for muscles etc). How the food makes us feel has a scientific basis too e.g. sugar and dopamine. Social effects include culture e.g. traditions (what to eat and when to eat it), fitting in with others, eating for comfort, eating to punish yourself etc. This all got me thinking about dog training. Years ago someone wrote about how emotive comments about peoples training methods just got peoples backs up. It was important to stay calm and give a rational argument based on science. That struck a chord with me because I was worn out reading mean stuff written by so called positive trainers. Years later, I now know the science is not enough. Emotion moves people. I think we still have to provide rational arguments based on science, but the shift comes when people feel and are moved enough by their feelings to want to change their methods. We then need to make that change manageable for them. Telling anyone what they are doing is wrong when they havent asked for feedback will just get their backs up. Heck, sometimes even when people ask for feedback all they actually want is to be told they are doing the right thing! Somehow we have to navigate the maze of human social behaviour and inspire people to move from the one way traffic of pack leadership to understanding and training their dogs in a more equable way. I dont know how to do that yet, but Im working on it.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 17:46:15 +0000
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