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Dog Education Institute
De Roedel
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'Snuffelen (‘sniffing): “Training dogs
according to the rules of nature with the
Roedel®method”, Part 2 Hondenleven, (Magazine,
Dogs life) by Judith Lissenberg
The second part of “Training dogs according to
the rules of nature with the Roedel Method” is
no easy dog-book, but it certainly is
interesting. It supports the dog education
methods that Arjen van Alphen and Francien
Koeman uncovered in their first book; how dogs
communicate in scent and body language and how
you can translate this into human actions.
In this latest well written edition, the authors,
who work with their dogs in the Belgian Ardennes,
go into more detail on the social learning
process of dogs; the natural upbringing, which
teaches the dog it’s natural standards and
values.
According to Arjen and Francien, you cannot get
to the more ‘fun things in life’ (fun and games)
until this ‘pre-learning’ stage is over and done
with. Their message is to consider the dog’s
perspective more; “it is the dogs’ right that
you look at it the way it really is; a very
social being that lives in a social context in
which very strict standards and values are taken
into account”.
In order to experience the dog’s world, we need
to take of our human-glasses and put on our
dog-shoes. This isn’t always easy. For instance,
let’s take a look at the following statement:
“My dog is so sweet, social and submissive; if
he had the chance he’d lick everyone’s ears
out.”
The authors’ opinion on this: ‘From the human
point of view, the person who made this
statement is right. However, when you look at
this behaviour in dog language, you get quite a
different message. One thing that every dog
learns from birth onwards, is that the physical
care of one of a higher ranking by one of a
lower ranking always starts with…the ears.”
Along the lines of over 600 (!) photographs,
this book clarifies a lot. How dogs weigh in
through urine and faeces. How important their
first period in the litter is, and their
relationship with the mother and the breeder,
who will take over more and more of the mothers
tasks as time goes by. How scent- and body
language are linked to each other – diagrams
illustrate this- and how important tactile
actions (touches) are for dogs. And how a one of
a higher ranking is responsible for the
protection and security of those of a lower
ranking, without giving in to challenges and
confrontation.
After having read this book, you will definitely
look at your dog in a whole new way.
Starting to take the ‘rule of three’ into
account, a system -very complicated to humans-
dogs live their whole lives by, doing everything
in patterns of three steps. Or starting to take
notice of the difference between left and right;
if a dog starts with its left paw, it is
motivated enough to carry out a certain task.
However, if the dog starts with its right paw,
it is clear that this motivation is missing.
Incredibly interesting topics that deserve to be
worked out into even further detail. This calls
for a part three!
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