The Trainer

I picked up a professional dog trainer and his wife from the airport last weekend. They  had been to Mexico. He came across as a most accomplished man. He told me that he has trained 24 different species of bird dogs, and other trainers refer the more difficult to train dogs to him.

He confided to me that dogs, especially a type of Italian bird dogs, love to smell a person's breath. That is how they determine if they like a person or not. I had never heard that before.

I wonder if they love to give kisses, especially people's mouths, to capture the essence of their breathe.

The old myth that breath was connected to the soul and revealed the nature of the exhaler might be what dogs are seeking information about, that is, one's breathe uncovers one's character for them.

He informed me that training a dog is basically bending them to "our will", human will.

I got to pondering that and mentioned to him that bending the will, if done gently by soft technique, will bend the will without breaking their spirit. He seemed to agree.

This lesson could apply to children too. The parent need to bend the child to her will, but she wants to use soft touch whenever possible, because and obedient spirit is desirable but a shattered will is a most disagreeable outcome.