Relationship Centered Training

Which sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? And yet, we can struggle to set aside recipes and recommendations. We are sometimes not quite sure how to get to the understanding that we want – and that our animals need us to have. The Elemental Questions serve as a framework and a guide that helps you negotiate any relationship with any animal. 

That is a big claim, isn't it! And yet it is well grounded in the experience of all who have put The Elemental Questions to work in their life. Here’s why it works: What you can learn from these questions are highly individual to that specific dog. When the answers are as unique as that dog, the relationship and your choices are automatically shaped by what the dog tells you instead of recipes, text books or generalized guidelines. SEE THE DOG is not just a slogan – it’s a philosophy and a practice that guides our choices every day.

A lot of dog training purports to be about the relationship. But often, despite our best intentions, however many techniques we learn or training goals we achieve, our relationships with dogs (and other animals) may remain largely transactional, or limited in degrees of freedom or true agency for the animal. 

Based in specific goals or expectations, many dog/human interactions can seem more like an invitation to a big dinner event that wants to know nothing about you except this: “Do you prefer chicken or fish?” What’s left out is all the rich and fascinating information that we might learn about someone if we went to a restaurant and each person was free to choose from an extensive menu, who they wanted to sit near, even whether they wanted to dine in or grab takeout! 

To build a healthy relationship, we need information. With good information, we can make choices with and for the animals in our care that are fair, humane, respectful and based in the reality of who they are, their preferences, needs and abilities. Whatever your experience or your goals, the Elemental Questions will help you create the meaningful relationships you want. Join Suzanne for this enlightening series as she explores each Elemental Question, helping you to find new ways to ask these questions and to listen to the answers.