Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships with Dogs by Suzanne Clothier

Author:Suzanne Clothier
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Dogs - Training, Training, Animals - General, Animals, Pets, Nature, Animal Behavior (Ethology), Human-animal communication, Dogs - Care, General, Dogs - General, Health, Dogs - Behavior, Behavior, Human-animal relationships, Dogs
ISBN: 9780446696340
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2005-10-18T07:00:00+00:00

context of our role as guardians and caretakers, persuasion may fail. In some situations, compulsion or coercion may be justified, especially if the consequences of a failure to respond or act in a certain way can be dangerous or even deadly. Few of us would choose persuasion to deal with a child about to stick a fork into an electrical outlet or walk into traffic; most of us would simply forcefully compel the child to stop. The moment we begin to limit the dog's options, when "no" is not an acceptable response, we are no longer persuading but coercing. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines coerce as 1.ffrestrain or dominate by nullifying individual will 2.!-pel to an act or choice 3.ffenforce or bring about by force or threat Coercion covers the full gamut from mild restraint (physical or psychological] to outright physical assault, but it always involves denying another complete freedom in some way. Though coercion contains the I thought about this a long time and realized that no matter how modest or unimportant the goal, the moment I have something I want, an outcome I desire more than other possible outcomes, there arises the possibility for anger, and further along that spectrum, the possibility of cruelty if I am willing to pursue my goal at any cost, even at the expense of another living being. We may not take the achievement of a goal to Machiavellian extremes. But simply shaping a goal and focusing on it has the additional effect of narrowing our perspective; aimed at our goal, we may forget the dog beside us. I essential and nonessential Despite an unpleasantly substantial knowledge of how animals are abused in the name of training, I remain fascinated with what is possible between a human and an animal. I know what it is to set off in pursuit of a goal with an animal as my partner, and I know how easy it is to gaze in desirous unblinking thrall at the goal and lose sight of the very real animal at my side. And yet, the pursuit of excellence is a good and noble cause, one that asks, What might be? What is

possible? How far can we go? When we ask these questions of ourselves, we are bound only by the effects of our actions on those around us and are relatively free to push ourselves quite hard in pursuit of a goal. But a far more problematic question arises when we select an animal as our partner. How far can we ask animals to go with us without crossing the line into inhumane? After all, what is it that allows an animal to shine, bringing his utmost to a task, displaying his talents with confidence and joy? In the best of all possible worlds it is simply this: the relationship between the animal and a human. If within a healthy and mutually joyful relationship, the dogsthuman team strives for the highest performance of which they as a team are capable, then that is gilding on an already lovely gem.

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