Dogs as Family Members (8)

Oh boy! Just as I finished writing yesterday's blog, I began reading CNN on line and found a little blurb about Temple Grandin. Now my world knowledge about the canine species has been turned upside down. I am so excited about this I can hardly stand it. The interesting thing is, I thought the name Temple Grandin sounded familiar and it was. Brad is currently reading one of her books titled, Animals Make us Human,2009. This is the incredible lady /professor from Colorado State University. Although she is known for her writing on animal science she has also become famous for her insights/knowledge of autism and learning. Dr. Grandin was on CNN because of her lecture on TED talks. Check it out.
http://www.ted.com/talks/temple_grandin_the_world_needs_all_kinds_of_minds.html

Although her lecture there is about Autism, it is interesting to watch to get a sense of who she is as a person. What excites me however is what she has to say about our pets. I will try to paraphrase some of the ideas that I read in her book, (Of course I took it from Brad)but I recommend getting yourself a copy and reading this for yourself. It's great stuff.
First she says that in order to have a good life, animals need to have five essential things:
.freedom from hunger
.freedom from discomfort
.freedom from pain, injury, or disease
.freedom to express normal behavior
.freedom from fear and distress

Having said that she talks about how vague these discriptions are. And that Dogs are genetically related to Wolves. I knew that but what was mind blowing to me was when
Dr. Grandin sited a 13 year research study in 1999 of wolves on Ellesmere Island in Canada. The research by L.David Mech found that in the wild, wolves don't live in wolf packs, and they don't have an alpha male who fights the other wolves to maintain his dominance.(pg, 26) This has a huge impact on the way we view dogs. Dr. Grandin also suggests that dogs in our families don't think of us as a pack with us as the alpha or alpha pair but as a mom and a dad. She also suggests that when large groups of unrelated dogs are kept together they do establish a dominate hierarchy. The dominance hierarchy in some large animal groups and used in order to breed and to keep peace. She gives multiple examples of how the "pack" idea formed, probably due to other wild groups in nature like the horse, who mate with siblings and parents. The study suggests that in nature wolf pups always differ to adults and older siblings.
Dr. Grandin suggests that our dog family members are different from a lot of other animals in that they are hypersocial and hypersensitive to everything we do. She says that dogs have become so domesticated because they want to please us. Family dogs view themselves as members of a family, with the adults as Mother and father. She suggests that dogs don't ever completely "grow up" and always need parenting. She also suggests that the most helpful way to train and include a dog in the family is to treat it like a child within the family. Having said this, she also suggests that treating a dog as a child doesn't always mean that you are a good parent. As always it is how you parent. Dogs need boundaries and limitations just like human children do.
I immediately thought of all of the controversy surrounding Cesar Millan and his training methods of "be the pack leader". To her credit, Dr. Grandin addresses this
issue including stating that Cesar has done a good job of creating a peaceful environment for his collection of unrelated dogs. She says that by establishing himself as the alpha dog (leader)he is creating a dominance hierarchy, similar to what animals will do for themselves in captivity. However, in our families where we have related members and are including dogs, they become members of our family too. This is huge. Dogs need parents not pack leaders, is the big message.
This means that I need to view Beeker as one of my kiddos, who needs gentle redirection and constant reminders of rules. He and Max love to play, and learning when and how to play are equally important. Socialization as well is important in that a dog who grows up knowing how to enter play with others will be able to feel comfortable in most situations.

There is so much information in the book regarding emotional needs of dogs and other animals but that would require more time than I am able to spare. Get this book or one of Grandin's other books, like Animals in Translation.

Got to go, Got a book I can't wait to finish.