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"Yum, Yum, Yum" Just Won't Do
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The subject of 'pretending' to eat before feeding a dog came up during one our Foundation Courses last weekend. I asked the delegate how they felt when they actually did this, to which the reply was 'rather silly'. 'Why do you think you feel this way?' I asked and the reply was 'because it is silly' and how right this is, so why do people do this? It is because someone once thought that it seemed reasonable to expect that going through this pantomime would fool a dog into thinking you were really eating because after all, it seems to work when we do it to encourage our young children to eat. The problem is that this is a theory based on no reality whatsoever, yet people accept this.
The conversation went on and we talked of how easy it is for the 'superior' human to become completely misguided by the words of others, when a dog and all other species will only put their trust and faith in actions.
I was also reminded of a lady who thought that if she told her dog that she was the leader often enough then the dog would one day believe it and I remember so well her walking round the room chanting 'I'm leader. I'm leader'! Her dog looked at me as if to say 'ah bless'.
It seems incredible that a species, supposedly the most intelligent, can be fooled, even deceived so completely by others, without receiving any proof and without questioning. Dogs are not so easily fooled and for this reason I had to point out to our student that if you pretend to eat, you are not producing the natural saliva that always accompanies the chewing of food. The production of saliva provides a dog with the clear information, through their powerful sense of smell, that those who eat immediately before them are of a higher status, which is a very subtle way of providing honest information to the dog, which is the desired effect.
Humans have a propensity to believe what they want to believe and we are easily conned, therefore, we assume we can do the same with our dogs. Owners will always look for the 'quick fix', (knowing that there is no such thing in reality), in the vain hope that the easiest option will be the right one.
Unfortunately dogs are not as easily fooled as us, they also don't lie. When they are happy they are happy, when they are relaxed they are relaxed, when they are fearful they are fearful and as long as you recognise their honest feelings and act accordingly then there will be trust between you that can often rival that of the relationship that you have with human colleagues and acquaintances, who could in truth be set on the path of deception.
As long as you are sincere when you thank your dog for letting you know that there is danger and there is warmth in your voice when you call it to you then you can never go wrong.
After a cup of tea and a good giggle we all agreed that it is better to be honest and ensure that we remain honest and reliable, hopefully as honest as all other species, look for real positive action not just words and accept that we can all be fooled sometimes. We only have to look in our cupboards at the number of electrical, miracle gadgets, that we never use to prove how easily humans can be fooled but a dog can never be so duped
Lucky dogs!
Jan Fennell
9th November 2011 |
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