Re: [unschoolingbasics] unschooling dogs
[email protected]
In a message dated 8/19/2004 10:49:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
mamaaj2000@... writes:
Well, this must be my opening to ask about unschooling dogs! Yes,
it's silly, but I'm really wondering. It seems like most people I
know who have dogs keep them in cages a lot of the time. And my
neighbor got a puppy and worked hard to get him on a schedule, which
is so, ya know, un-AP! <<<<
It's best not anthropomorphize the dogs. They are dogs, not children. They
are den animals and prefer a 'covered' place of their own---something
'den-like'. Crates fit the bill.
Most people don't know much about dogs. They don't understand
age-appropriate or instinctive or breed-specific behaviors. They act as if they are
children. They aren't.
My dogs love their crates. Ryan will have his in the car (like a safety belt
for dogs) and in the hotel room. You're welcome to witness it! <g> They'll
all nap in their crates with the doors open. It's a safe place---and should
ALWAYS be treated as such. Flying on airplanes is *easy* when the dog is
crate-trained. Often traumatic when not. Visiting friends and famiily who aren't
dog-friendly is also easier.
Scheduling the puppy is not so much for the puppy's sake (other than to
avoid human wrath), as for the human's. Potty training is easier when you know
when he'll have to pee or poop----scoot him outside as soon as you can. He
learns where to 'go' and can get praised for it. Praise for going outside is
perferable to pissing you off for going inside---and being on the receiving end
of a 'white-carpet-rant'. It's also using a natural tendency to not soil where
he sleeps-----he won't soil his crate, and so will naturally "hold it" until
he's let out of the crate and directly into the yard.
The easiest way to train a dog is to use his natural tendencies/instincts to
our advantage. That's how we got herding dogs and hunting dogs----herding,
pointing, retrieving are all 'parts' of the natural hunting drive----watch
wolves hunt in a pack; they used all this communication to work together.
Terriers instinctively dig and hunt. Hounds use their noses or eyes to trail and
hunt. Humans have just made the best of them by honing them to our needs.
For the most part, we've left strict obedience behind in favor of "house
manners"----more unschooly. <g> But still, we know what's instinctive and how to
work WITH that, not against it.
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
mamaaj2000@... writes:
Well, this must be my opening to ask about unschooling dogs! Yes,
it's silly, but I'm really wondering. It seems like most people I
know who have dogs keep them in cages a lot of the time. And my
neighbor got a puppy and worked hard to get him on a schedule, which
is so, ya know, un-AP! <<<<
It's best not anthropomorphize the dogs. They are dogs, not children. They
are den animals and prefer a 'covered' place of their own---something
'den-like'. Crates fit the bill.
Most people don't know much about dogs. They don't understand
age-appropriate or instinctive or breed-specific behaviors. They act as if they are
children. They aren't.
My dogs love their crates. Ryan will have his in the car (like a safety belt
for dogs) and in the hotel room. You're welcome to witness it! <g> They'll
all nap in their crates with the doors open. It's a safe place---and should
ALWAYS be treated as such. Flying on airplanes is *easy* when the dog is
crate-trained. Often traumatic when not. Visiting friends and famiily who aren't
dog-friendly is also easier.
Scheduling the puppy is not so much for the puppy's sake (other than to
avoid human wrath), as for the human's. Potty training is easier when you know
when he'll have to pee or poop----scoot him outside as soon as you can. He
learns where to 'go' and can get praised for it. Praise for going outside is
perferable to pissing you off for going inside---and being on the receiving end
of a 'white-carpet-rant'. It's also using a natural tendency to not soil where
he sleeps-----he won't soil his crate, and so will naturally "hold it" until
he's let out of the crate and directly into the yard.
The easiest way to train a dog is to use his natural tendencies/instincts to
our advantage. That's how we got herding dogs and hunting dogs----herding,
pointing, retrieving are all 'parts' of the natural hunting drive----watch
wolves hunt in a pack; they used all this communication to work together.
Terriers instinctively dig and hunt. Hounds use their noses or eyes to trail and
hunt. Humans have just made the best of them by honing them to our needs.
For the most part, we've left strict obedience behind in favor of "house
manners"----more unschooly. <g> But still, we know what's instinctive and how to
work WITH that, not against it.
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]