leave the words behind

Less is always more, and when you find that place of calm energy, you will also find a place of silence. Dogs do not communicate in words. They communicate with energy through body language. One of the only times that dogs naturally get loud is when they bark to communicate with the entire pack over a distance because there is danger lurking.

And yet I see humans get this backwards all the time. Their dog barks at another dog or pulls on the walk, and their immediate response is to get loud. “No, no, NO!” Now this can work in human situations because we communicate with words, and the person who shouts the loudest can often win out over everyone else.

It doesn’t work with dogs, or with animals in general. Why? Because loudness represents unbalanced energy, and dogs will not follow unbalanced energy. What they will do is become more excited the louder the humans around them get.

To a dog, a human shouting in a loud deep voice is just a bark, and barking is meant to alert the pack to danger. Well, if the pack is in danger, it’s every dog’s job to spread the word and take action to protect the pack, meaning that yelling at a dog will just elevate their energy and their anxiety.

I’ve spent a lot of time around dogs, and I can tell you exactly how one dog dominates another: in silence. The dominant dog will place themselves above the other dog, claiming the space and whatever objects are in it. They don’t growl and they don’t bark, because they don’t have to. Their energy and body language send the message: “This is mine. Go away.”

It’s only when the other dog resists that dominance may escalate to other signs, like a low growl, physical contact, or baring of teeth. And, beyond that, it only turns into a fight if the other dog will not defer to the dominant dog.

It doesn’t get loud until it’s a fight.

So if you’re yelling at your dog to calm it down, you will never have a calm dog. You have to see it from your dog’s point of view, and you have to be the Pack Leader. If you want your dog to be calm, then you have to think like a dog and leave the words behind.

-- Cesar Millan