How to Be a Dog Whisperer
If you haven’t ever seen the television show “The Dog Whisperer,” you really should check it out. It’s an outstanding example of the perfect methods of dog training and behavior control.
But, whether you have or haven’t ever watched The Dog Whisperer, this article will give you a lot of insight about what dog whispering is, how it’s done, and how it benefits you and your dog.
Since this is such a popular topic, here are some direct links to jump straight to specific sections:
What Is a Dog Whisperer?
What are the Secrets of a Dog Whisperer?
Who Made Dog Whispering Popular?
Can I Become a Dog Whisperer?
How Do I Become a Dog Whisperer?
What Is a Dog Whisperer?
A dog whisperer is a person who has mastered the human-dog relationship. They understand the body language, the mental processes, and the social expectations of dogs, well enough to work with almost any dog under any circumstances.
A big part of becoming a dog whisperer, is letting go of one huge mistake: Projecting human minds and mental states, onto our dogs. Dogs learn to live with humans, but they don’t learn to be humans. We are much more able to become dog whisperers, than a dog is of becoming a human whisperer. And the bottom line is, dogs don’t do things for the same reasons humans do.
So, a dog whisperer chucks out that misconception. Instead, they see dogs for who they really are, which opens up strong two-way communication between the dog and the dog whisperer. A dog whisperer does things in a way that makes sense to a dog, and understands a dog’s actions in a dog-world context.
What are the Secrets of a Dog Whisperer?
Have you ever known a person who never paid any attention to what you were thinking or saying, but constantly gave you input and orders? Someone who would tell you what to do and how to feel, but never listened to your responses? Someone who was dominant and unreachable?
We might not mean to do this – but that’s basically what most dog lovers put their dogs through.
Almost every dog lover has said the following to a dog at least once in their life: “I wish you could just tell me.” A dog whisperer’s secret is this: They know how to understand the efforts dogs make every day to communicate what’s on that dog’s mind. Dogs are very social, and very full of communication – a dog whisperer knows how to understand.
A dog whisperer knows that dogs communicate with body language, facial expressions, scents, movements and posture, energy levels, and of course, their voices. We humans expect much more of the chatter we deal with, to be verbal – body cues are almost an afterthought. A dog whisperer deals with dog communication, on the dog’s level of understanding. In a lot of cases, this is just a matter of taking a step back and observing. In other cases, it’s a matter of issuing our own communications, in ways the dogs understand.
Looking at human-to-dog interaction that way gives a dog whisperer a detailed insight in every moment spent with a dog. Dog whisperers do see a dog as a unique, valuable person – but it’s a dog-person, not a human-person with four legs. What’s the difference? A small child can eventually learn everything you expect it to learn, when you teach that child like you’d teach a human. No matter how much you try to teach a dog to be a human, it’s not ever going to happen. Making that change in perspective is seen by dog whisperers, as giving the dog respect for being who and what the dog is – a dog.
Here’s a common example: You come home from work to find a pile of dog poop on the kitchen floor. Your dog is house trained! You think to yourself, “There’s no excuse for this!” You yell, you stomp, you point and use an angry tone of voice, maybe you even throw your keys in the general direction of your dog. Your dog responds with his head low and his tail between his legs, crouching up to you. You then continue your rant: “You know what you did! Don’t poop in the house!”
Actually, no, the dog isn’t making this submissive posture because he knows what he did. All he knows is that his alpha is terribly upset for some mysterious reason, and the right thing to do in this state of confusion is to prove his submission to you. That’s as far as your dog’s understanding goes in this case. He may have pooped on the floor hours ago – in which case, there’s no reason for him to make any connection.
A dog whisperer knows that in advance. A dog whisperer isn’t going to drag the dog over to the pile of poop and rub his nose in it forcefully, because to the dog on the receiving end, that’s just random punishment and cruelty.
Who Made Dog Whispering Popular?
There are a few different answers to this, depending on how close you are to the dog training world. Cesar Millan, the host of the popular “The Dog Whisperer” TV show, is the obvious answer. However, before that, Paul Owens wrote a book and later added a DVD package called “The Dog Whisperer – A Compassionate, Nonviolent Approach to Dog Training.” There’s also an Australian named John Richardson, who wrote a book back in 2001, called simply, “The Dog Whisperer.”
All this happened in the span of a decade. Since then, the great effectiveness and humane, scientific approach involved in dog whisperer techniques, has led to great popularity. Probably the best resource I know of is DogProblems.com, which teaches almost every dog whisperer’s trick you could imagine in one membership website.
Can I Become a Dog Whisperer?
Yes! There’s a lot to learn before you can really call yourself a dog whisperer, and the key skills are to have empathy and patience.
Study your dog’s reactions to things. Watch dogs interact with each other. Watch a skilled dog trainer in his natural element, and then study the dog training tips throughout this and other websites I’ve recommended. Pick up an excellent, comprehensive system such as “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer” and learn it thoughtfully. The original material by Paul Owens, author of the DVD and book entitled “The Dog Whisperer – A Compassionate, Nonviolent Approach to Dog Training,” is also excellent and essential for learning to become a dog whisperer yourself.
How Do I Become a Dog Whisperer?
Aside from what I said in the paragraph above, just add the advice into your daily life with your dog. Being a dog whisperer means that you don’t expect anything except for your tone of voice, your body language, and the few words involved in your obedience training commands, to mean anything. It’s your habits as a pack leader, not your speech-making skill or your willingness to buy cool toys, that matters to your dog.
So, be observant, be thoughtful, and learn the dog whisperer materials I’ve discussed on this page, and then apply them in your daily life. That’s how you become a dog whisperer.
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