I really wish I had some fancy training techniques for you. I wish I could impress you with some sharp obedience and lots of down-stays around chickens (impulse control). I wish making your dog "wait" for his dinner and then telling him "okay" was the quick and easy fix to all your training problems.
But let's look on the bright side...
What we do have is the built-in technology of the nervous system to detect threat and safety. What we have is the fascia, the living matrix of the body. We have neuroception, co-regulation, and somatic resonance. We have your dog's ability to align with a different species (us).
We can't command your dog to stop feeling bad. We can't train the fear out of him. No amount of exercise will make up for a lack of attunement and secure attachment.
What we can do: Share touch, breath, and a heart-based feeling of safety and connection. We can lend the dog our nervous system so he can re-pattern his own. That's right. The dog will heal himself from the inside out if we hold the space with integrity and love. If we feel into our heart for the presence of a greater intelligence.
We can en-train the nervous system to a different rhythm. The rhythm of safety.
This is before we start to “desensitize,” before Sit, Down, Stay, and Come. This somatic work is the foundation for all our training, and yet, most people take it as a suggestion. They don’t realize it’s the magic fix that everyone claims to be looking for but then no one takes seriously. How do I know?
Because if every single dog owner did this with their dog: Formed a true connection based on EMOTIONAL ALIGNMENT then I’d be out of job real quick. I don’t teach fancy obedience, protection work, or agility. But I’d be glad if I had to! If every dog and guardian were perfectly in sync and looking for fun and challenging activities to do with their dogs, I’d be on it like Blue Bonnet.
In the meantime, I’m teaching people how to breathe, how to look at their dog with love, and how to touch with both acceptance and patience. If we can let go of the intention to “fix” the dog, then the fixing takes care of itself. We shouldn’t pretend to know better than the dog. Dogs go by feeling, and if the feeling isn’t quite right, they will reflect that.
Let’s be open to not knowing. Let’s pretend that we are running an experiment. Get curious. See what happens when you touch your dog to convey a sense of safety. To get IN TOUCH with your own feelings and autonomic state. Then we shall see a change. And the change will seem magical. But it was always there, in the daily interaction of two nervous systems, two energetic beings coming into resonance with each other.
Watch the playlist on YouTube: Canine Somatics
Photo by Prashant Gupta on Unsplash