Dog Psychology Corner - The Focal Point

Making a dog wait or controlling its resources often does very little to advance relational change between dog and owner.  The issue of meaningful influence matters as it aligns with going from controlling and containing a problem to changing and fixing it.  This is the focus of the relational model.  The various interplays involving physical touch and influence all play a role with changing both how the owner thinks as well as the dog.  The intent of physical touch is to not only bring the dog within the follower script but move owner into the leadership role. Another pivoting point within this relational model is the concept of verbal commands.  The premise of using commands intersects with learning based ideology and with the issue of what is really at work when it comes to creating relational change between dog and owner.  When considering this concept the question one needs to ask is how do you create change when you are already walking on sand ?  That is one of the questions I asked many years ago when I started connecting the relational dots.   Communication and the language of dogs follows the path of nature via mind and body.  Dogs are able to get a sense of the person via their thinking process, state of mind and character.  This intertwines via the type of connection and bond the owner establishes.  How the dog responds to reasonable influence at the relational level via the pack relationship offers insight into the alignment of the roles.