The Giant Who Sleeps Within
Every dog from largest to smallest goes through life experiencing what it does. We humans like to believe we are in control when in fact that is the biggest joke in the universe. A very special man, a true dogman, said in training, "you control yourself and your dog" & went on to say it is our responsibility. We owe it to ourselves & to our dogs to be in control. This is not a popular concept in the modern world. That doesn't change it from being fact. Oh how we humans struggle with this concept. Dogs live in the moment. So they face what comes to them, as it comes to them.
What a good many people don't understand is within our dogs sleeps a giant. Depending upon who you speak with the giant is called instinct. I see the giant as a separate issue. The instinct calls the dog to action. But it takes a certain type of event to make a permanent change. Some like to call what I speak of drive. I will not. The reason you will never hear me speak of the various 'drive' theories is that humans love to take simple things & make them complicated. It makes us feel better. It makes it easier to understand when we fail, because it's all so complicated. The truth is as simple as the species of dog because they are both natural by nature.
So we can speak of any breed of dog you like. For this I'm going to speak of the Doberman because this is one of the rare breeds who was created specifically for the purpose of protecting his human & that which belongs to his human. So we have our little Doberman puppy. He does as most puppies do: eats, drinks, exercises, relives himself & most importantly learns from all that is around him. He has not yet learned the peculiar ways of the human but he's on the road to education from the moment he comes home with you. So he's out in the yard with his humans & a man comes walking down the street. We humans often don't pick up on things but the dog - even this young pup- cannot help but be aware, it's his design by nature. The species lives & dies based on their ability to sense danger quickly. The pup sees something that concerns him so he goes still, staring at this person. Then he will elevate accordingly. But for the purpose of understanding about the sleeping giant, this man is a bad guy. The pup is well aware of his size. His inexperience & lack of training won't have him lunging forward with a full display of teeth. The humans have an opportunity here for training but far too often the people are unaware so the puppy, knowing these people don't see, not having the education & stabilization training to know he can trust the human's judgment, he must do something. He is a Doberman. His instincts tell him to do something. Now if this man walks by & minds his business the pup will probably growl or bark, a bluffing type of interaction with the hackles up to make him appear more fierce. In that instant the giant still sleeps. He may snort & roll over or nearly awaken but he'll continue to sleep. The change happens when the man comes to the gate & kicks it. The giant gets knocked out of bed & awakens. This is when many people say, "he's never done that before" as the puppy goes from barking & growling to give everything he's physically got (& a little that he hasn't). He'll do his puppy best to let this guy know he aims to do damage if this man comes through.
This is the event that awakens the sleeping giant. The giant is serious. He has been passed on from sire & dam to puppy for as long as there have been dogs. The giant is primitive & has no concern about political correctness or the trappings of today's society. The giant has never heard of insurance problems. He is the grit, the power, the difference between a dog who is running a bluff & a dog who will do his best to back up his own threat. For people who train dogs to defend human life, this is the defining moment when we take the dog into the serious world of bite work, defense work. Prior to this moment the dog hadn't tried to take someone to task physically. Once that barrier is broken, the giant is awake & he will remain so until the dog's mental faculties fail him or until his last breath on this earth. The giant remains once he's awakened. The giant is not always about biting. The giant can be within the hunting dog who helps his humans hunt or track game. The herding dog who works the herds, the livestock guardian who protects them, the family pet who suddenly jumps into the water to retrieve a child who got too tired while swimming. The giant isn't always about biting. An unfortunate thing that can happen to awaken the giant is for one dog to attack your dog, for some dogs this makes them aware that others of their species are threatening or dangerous. It is a problem that haunted one of my own dogs.
It is a sad moment for me to work with a dog which would have been better off having never had his giant awakened, but it does happen. The bubbly Shih Tzu who was happy & bouncy until the day his human was mugged & now he sees every approaching stranger as a threat. The Cocker Spaniel who loved children until she encountered a mean child who abused him & taught him not all children are nice. The lovely Lab who loved to swim at the lake until he was attacked by a roaming dog who know suffers extreme dog aggression.
It can happen to anyone. Don't let some 'pro' tell you it would never happen to them. A good many of these things we can not control. But we can be aware of this phenomena. We need to address it in our training. The sooner we train our dog AND his giant, the sooner you can smile again because you work together. Dogs are extremely intelligent. When you work together as a team the dog controls his giant. If the giant rears his head -because the dog misinterprets something- the handler can tell him to 'leave it' & he will because through training he's learned he can count on his human to know what's best. I'll address ways to help you & your dog through this at a later time. The giant is only dangerous if you let the dog figure this out on his own. Always remember someone is in charge where your dog is concerned. It's either the human or the dog. If the dog's in charge, things may get really bad because the dog responds in a natural way.
What a good many people don't understand is within our dogs sleeps a giant. Depending upon who you speak with the giant is called instinct. I see the giant as a separate issue. The instinct calls the dog to action. But it takes a certain type of event to make a permanent change. Some like to call what I speak of drive. I will not. The reason you will never hear me speak of the various 'drive' theories is that humans love to take simple things & make them complicated. It makes us feel better. It makes it easier to understand when we fail, because it's all so complicated. The truth is as simple as the species of dog because they are both natural by nature.
So we can speak of any breed of dog you like. For this I'm going to speak of the Doberman because this is one of the rare breeds who was created specifically for the purpose of protecting his human & that which belongs to his human. So we have our little Doberman puppy. He does as most puppies do: eats, drinks, exercises, relives himself & most importantly learns from all that is around him. He has not yet learned the peculiar ways of the human but he's on the road to education from the moment he comes home with you. So he's out in the yard with his humans & a man comes walking down the street. We humans often don't pick up on things but the dog - even this young pup- cannot help but be aware, it's his design by nature. The species lives & dies based on their ability to sense danger quickly. The pup sees something that concerns him so he goes still, staring at this person. Then he will elevate accordingly. But for the purpose of understanding about the sleeping giant, this man is a bad guy. The pup is well aware of his size. His inexperience & lack of training won't have him lunging forward with a full display of teeth. The humans have an opportunity here for training but far too often the people are unaware so the puppy, knowing these people don't see, not having the education & stabilization training to know he can trust the human's judgment, he must do something. He is a Doberman. His instincts tell him to do something. Now if this man walks by & minds his business the pup will probably growl or bark, a bluffing type of interaction with the hackles up to make him appear more fierce. In that instant the giant still sleeps. He may snort & roll over or nearly awaken but he'll continue to sleep. The change happens when the man comes to the gate & kicks it. The giant gets knocked out of bed & awakens. This is when many people say, "he's never done that before" as the puppy goes from barking & growling to give everything he's physically got (& a little that he hasn't). He'll do his puppy best to let this guy know he aims to do damage if this man comes through.
This is the event that awakens the sleeping giant. The giant is serious. He has been passed on from sire & dam to puppy for as long as there have been dogs. The giant is primitive & has no concern about political correctness or the trappings of today's society. The giant has never heard of insurance problems. He is the grit, the power, the difference between a dog who is running a bluff & a dog who will do his best to back up his own threat. For people who train dogs to defend human life, this is the defining moment when we take the dog into the serious world of bite work, defense work. Prior to this moment the dog hadn't tried to take someone to task physically. Once that barrier is broken, the giant is awake & he will remain so until the dog's mental faculties fail him or until his last breath on this earth. The giant remains once he's awakened. The giant is not always about biting. The giant can be within the hunting dog who helps his humans hunt or track game. The herding dog who works the herds, the livestock guardian who protects them, the family pet who suddenly jumps into the water to retrieve a child who got too tired while swimming. The giant isn't always about biting. An unfortunate thing that can happen to awaken the giant is for one dog to attack your dog, for some dogs this makes them aware that others of their species are threatening or dangerous. It is a problem that haunted one of my own dogs.
It is a sad moment for me to work with a dog which would have been better off having never had his giant awakened, but it does happen. The bubbly Shih Tzu who was happy & bouncy until the day his human was mugged & now he sees every approaching stranger as a threat. The Cocker Spaniel who loved children until she encountered a mean child who abused him & taught him not all children are nice. The lovely Lab who loved to swim at the lake until he was attacked by a roaming dog who know suffers extreme dog aggression.
It can happen to anyone. Don't let some 'pro' tell you it would never happen to them. A good many of these things we can not control. But we can be aware of this phenomena. We need to address it in our training. The sooner we train our dog AND his giant, the sooner you can smile again because you work together. Dogs are extremely intelligent. When you work together as a team the dog controls his giant. If the giant rears his head -because the dog misinterprets something- the handler can tell him to 'leave it' & he will because through training he's learned he can count on his human to know what's best. I'll address ways to help you & your dog through this at a later time. The giant is only dangerous if you let the dog figure this out on his own. Always remember someone is in charge where your dog is concerned. It's either the human or the dog. If the dog's in charge, things may get really bad because the dog responds in a natural way.