Often we wonder if our animals trust us. People ask me about this more than other things. Whenever there is a problem people have with a pet, they start to question if the pet trusts them. That can be especially true if the pet is nervous about something and will not let the person assist.
Trust is an interesting topic and we as people have many definitions of trust and even often misidentify what trust is. We think that we should be able to trust, but what we often mean by that is that we can have blind faith, which is cutting off awareness. If you have a dog that has an issue with peeing in the house, you can trust that he will be peeing in the house. If you know a person is a liar, you can trust that they will lie to you. If you pretend that they will not be lying to you, you are now no longer trustingyour awareness, but you are functioning from the hope that you are exempt from their choice to lie. That really has nothing to do with trust. Animals are very sensitive to our thoughts, feelings and emotions and they are constantly picking them up.
With how busy our minds are all day long, I sometimes am astounded that we can even have any relationship with an animal at all. I am sure some animals have found a way to deal with the bombardment of thought in a way that works for them, but there are many that are not dealing with that well at all.
Say for example that you have a dog that is aggressive towards other dogs. Say that you have experienced your dog getting into squabbles, nothing serious so far, no blood drawn, but a lot of acting out with barking, growling and pulling on the leash. Enough to have your full attention. You might have tried many things to change this behavior, but you have not gotten anywhere yet. Now you might be avoiding meeting other dogs at your walks. You might have even chosen to walk your dog at times when other people are not around. In other words you have altered your life in order to deal with this issue.
What does trust have to do with this example? Well, right now, can your dog trust you as the handler to have a different possibility with this? What is happening from your dog’s perspective?
It might have started like this: Your dog is a little nervous, or insecure. Your dog might have not been socialized properly as a puppy. The first encounter with another dog on a leash might have been in the way that your dog was ahead of you, facing the other dog straight on. What were your thoughts at that point? Were you confident, calm and collected? Or were you nervous and wondering if something might ‘happen’? Most likely the latter and now your dog is getting all that information, but she does not associate that with her behavior, but now assumes that you are nervous about this other dog. So what does she have to do with that? She is not confident, she has no clue how to handle this situation and protect you from this encounter. What is the best way to create more space between you and this strange dog that is approaching? A growl might work. So she might try that. Now you will most likely have a reaction to that, and your dog again perceives your aggravated state and again will not associate that with her behavior, but with the ‘intruder’ that is facing her. So she has to step it up to get that dog out of your space.
You can see that this will create a vicious cycle that has you both in a very peculiar state. So now what? How can you build the trust between you both? What actually has to happen here? You have the key to this situation! You can change this! Start practicing having no thought at all while next to your dog. You can get there by running this clearing and expanding your energy out in all directions infinitely.
What energy, space and consciousness can me and my body be to be the energy of peace, calm and collected for all eternity? Everything that does not allow that, I destroy and uncreate it all. Right and wrong, good and bad, POC and POD, all 9, shorts, boys and beyonds.
Please practice running that while being still next to your dog. Run this clearing 10 times or more, and with soft focus observe if your dog starts to relax. You can also ask your body to flow the energy of ‘anaphylactic shock and quadrate of laxation’ while doing that. See if your dogs starts to settle next to you and relax. If that is the case, please repeat this exercise several times per day. Your dog will be relaxing faster and faster as you are doing this. Please remember, thinking is not a contribution in this moment. Please do not hold on to any thoughts while you are doing this, let them pass through you like a cloud in the sky, do not pull them in, do not engage. Be in allowance of them passing through.
The next step is to bring this into the situation that has the charge. Be far enough away from the situation so that YOU can stay calm, cool and collected and please again, if there are thoughts about what might occur, or any anxiety in your world, YOU have to change that FIRST! Please know that! You have to lead here. Run the clearing, expand out, let the thoughts dissipate and pass through, do not engage them. Also position you between your dog and the other dog physically and be far enough away to not have your dog in a state where you cannot influence him. If you cannot get his attention at all, you are too close. Now do the exercise that you were going at home and lead by example being relaxed in this situation. You will be able to change your dog’s behavior this way! It might be faster than you think! Your dog will recognize that you are not worried about the situation, that you have his back and that you are in charge in a clam, cool and collected way. Please play with this! And if you have any questions, please let me know! What else is truly possible?
Our animals trust us when we are a calm and collected leader. They will feed of that energy and have it in their own body and lives. They respond to that energy with ease. Thought is not part of that energy and that can be a challenge for us. But what a gift to become a walking, talking meditation? Would that be a contribution to your life and living? Please have fun with this! Suzy