Tierisch Menschlich

When I was little, there were two kinds of adults: The kind who really “tried to get you” in a game of tag – leaving you giggling and running as fast as you can, not able to believe they haven’t caught you yet. The kind that wanted to make it easy and lamely jogged after you like, “oh no… I’m …

Being tense makes us more likely to lash out – in fear, frustration, or aggression. This is the same way for our animals. By being tense when we see a dog walk towards us, we really increase the chances of our dog reacting instead of remaining calm. It can even be, and usually is, a sort of subconscious tension: we …

… too far ahead, that’s where. Walking off-leash with the dogs is break time: sniff stumps, pee here, pee there, run, jump and pant. Then there are those moments when they go too far ahead – just over that invisible boundary we all have (oh, I’d really rather he not go that far ahead). My general rule is that my …

Many of us want to have our dog along with us when we’re with our horses. Or maybe you’ve day dreamed of doing something with them together? I will talk later about certain ground rules a dog has to understand around horses (how he can act, where he can be…) in another post or two. For now, let’s talk about …

“With the horse I always consider that if I do too much in too little time and I’m not patient, he’s gonna shut down and I won’t get anything done.” – Buck Brannaman

“(…) Precision comes from the ability to be anywhere, and correctness often comes from finding out what incorrect feels like. The key is to develop excellent skills, then play freely with them… with the final picture being just that, the final picture (4).” – Excerpt from the Dressage Naturally… Results in Harmony book by Karen Rohlf

… Not so easy! Each time a high-energy dog runs, they get in better shape. Every run takes longer and longer to get the same (tired) results in the end. This is, mainly, because merely the body is being trained and not the mind and focus. I might be physically drained after a run – but, depending how well trained …

This is from the Parelli program: so great to keep in mind with or without animals! Put the Relationship First – whether with your horse, partner, family, co-workers, customers, vendors or business partners. – use open, honest and respectful language (non-violent communication). Be the Best Me I Can Be – pursue a positive perspective. – be impeccable with your word. …

Mowgli and I training in some fresh snow.

Sometimes we get asked to do something and we just have no… clue… what to do. This happens to animals all the time! It almost never doesn’t happen! They don’t understand our spoken word (besides the words we’ve taught them) and our body language is much different than theirs. So most the time it’s sort of a shot in the …