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© 2003 - 2019
Dog Education Institute
De Roedel
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About the Roedel Method
Most methods used for raising and training dogs
are based upon teaching particular behaviour.
Desired behaviour is rewarded by the owner.
Behaviour is conditioned by positive
ratification.
What they forget, is what the
behavioural-psychologist B.F. Skinner, the
founder of conditioned learning, never forgot: ‘only
behaviour that is already present can be
conditioned’.
The Roedel Method uses the ‘behaviour that is
already present’ as its starting point. Where
does all this ‘present behaviour’ come from? How
did the dog learn that behaviour? What meaning
does that behaviour have for a dog?
‘Behaviour that is already present’: imprinted
learning
A dog is a pack animal, a very social animal
that lives in a social context. The genetic
predisposition for the ability to learn social
behaviour is present in every dog. Humans see
the fact that a dog can behave like a dog as
‘instinct’, however, this behaviour is not ‘instinctive’
and it most certainly doesn’t just appear by
itself. Just as with humans, the child is
taught this behaviour by the parents.
Social and unique!
Our dog is not only and extremely social, but
also a very unique animal.
Thanks to the domestication, he can not only use
the way he learns (social learning) amongst
other dogs, but also amongst humans, in two
different social worlds and two different
languages!
Using his own scent language, body language,
body positions and movements, dog codes and dog
manners, he does not only talk to those of the
same species, but also to other animals, other
people and in particular with…the owner!
   
Playbow
also with the owner
gnawing game …
and with the owner
Motivation
Because the dog is a social pack animal, he
always wants to be part of a group, his pack. In
a dog’s life, this is the biggest and most
important motivation. In order to find out if he
belongs, he will talk about it in his own
dog language.
Scent
Directly after birth, the nose is the first of
your dog’s senses that work perfectly in
communication with his social environment. Those
scents give him his first and most important
information about his surroundings. For the rest
of his dog life, he will ‘follow his nose’.
Scent will always be his most important means of
speaking in body language and determining what
his position is, in every situation and in
whatever pack.
 
Of course, we will never be able to perceive
what a dog perceives with his refined sense of
smell. Luckily for us humans, the language of
scent always goes together with a physical
action of the dog.
This body language is something we can get a
grip on. We can perceive this body language,
learn to understand it, and learn to ‘speak’ it
by reacting the correct way in body language, with our own body.
Dominance
Dominance is not the same as ‘wanting to be the
boss’, ‘aggression’ or ‘overpowering’.
In any social being that lives in a group,
dominance is necessary and this is genetically
present. Thanks to dominance,
communication with
the other members of the group is made possible.
Rights, obligations and ranking
Every social position -the ranking position-
that a dog can have in a pack, has certain
rights and obligations
connected to it. A dog with a higher social
ranking has the right to correct and mark, a
right that a dog with a lower ranking does not
have.
 
Making sure her pups use their language
skills in a socially doglike manner, according
to the dog
culture… and intervening if this is not the
case!
Human or dog obedience?
According to human standards and values, a dog
is disobedient if it does not do what it is told
to do by the human. However, according to the
dog’s standards and values, disobedient
behaviour doesn’t exist. In the dog language, ‘disobedient behaviour’ is how the dog ‘talks’ and negotiates!
Body language, motivation and reward
If a dog shows obedient behaviour, it does not
necessarily mean that his motivation is just as
obedient as the behaviour that he is displaying.
If we reward this obedient behaviour, we have no
idea what motivation we are rewarding at the
same time.
Your dog shakes and rolls over the ground after
you have cuddled him. Does he do this to loose
your scent? Or does he do this out of pure
satisfaction?
The body language looks exactly the same, but
the motivation
for the body language in both situations is
completely different.
Learning to see differences and similarities in the body language and the
motivation of the dog, this is possible through the
natural raising of your dog with the Roedel
Method.
With this knowledge, you will know exactly when
or when not you will be rewarding behaviour and…you
will be speaking in clear language for your dog.
Book 1 and 2
The Roedel
Method® Netherlands |
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