Inspire Cooperation Creatively
In my last post I listed some priorities I chose to keep in mind as I decided on a plan to get Gunny to accept the bridle again. One of them I listed was to inspire cooperation creatively. I thought that priority might need a little more explanation.
When I am thinking about something that I want to do with Gunny, I need to remember to think about his point of view. Why would he want to do a certain thing? Or why would he be behaving in the way that he is, what is he telling me by that? And how can I help him to want to do the thing that I want him to do?
This point of view forces me to think outside of the "because I told him so" thought process that is more dominance-based. And it also forces me to think outside of the "because I will feed him a treat when he does it" thought process, which does not work for Gunny because it makes him behave dominantly.
To think creatively can mean to combine things in new ways, so one way I chose to think creatively was to think of some things I could do with Gunny and then use those things in a new way or a new combination. To inspire cooperation means thinking of how to cause Gunny to want to cooperate. Or another way to look at it means to think in terms of what thought would I like Gunny to have? And then how can I cause him to have that thought?
Two posts ago I told the story of putting the bridle on with the bit on the outside of his teeth because he didn't want to open his mouth. And allowing him to wear it like that for a few minutes while I petted him and put some other tack away. And then checking to see if maybe he had decided that wearing the bit inside his mouth would be better. That was just one possibility that I came up with.
Another thing that I did that day was to ask for cooperation, such as asking him to turn his head in my direction to put the bridle on. When he gave it to me, I gave him what he wanted. Which was to look over where he thought "his mare" might be. And I gave him the look, I didn't let him take the look. After he gave me his attention and cooperation I then turned his head in the direction he wanted it in, instead of just letting him take his attention away from me. This kept me in charge and also allowed me to use the thing that mattered to him at that time as the reward.
All of this was slow and calm and gentle. And allowed me to cause Gunny to want to put the bit in his mouth, stay calm, and avoid engaging in a power struggle. And really with this type of thinking the possibilities are endless. It just depends on thinking about possibilities of what would work for each unique situation.
When I am thinking about something that I want to do with Gunny, I need to remember to think about his point of view. Why would he want to do a certain thing? Or why would he be behaving in the way that he is, what is he telling me by that? And how can I help him to want to do the thing that I want him to do?
This point of view forces me to think outside of the "because I told him so" thought process that is more dominance-based. And it also forces me to think outside of the "because I will feed him a treat when he does it" thought process, which does not work for Gunny because it makes him behave dominantly.
To think creatively can mean to combine things in new ways, so one way I chose to think creatively was to think of some things I could do with Gunny and then use those things in a new way or a new combination. To inspire cooperation means thinking of how to cause Gunny to want to cooperate. Or another way to look at it means to think in terms of what thought would I like Gunny to have? And then how can I cause him to have that thought?
Two posts ago I told the story of putting the bridle on with the bit on the outside of his teeth because he didn't want to open his mouth. And allowing him to wear it like that for a few minutes while I petted him and put some other tack away. And then checking to see if maybe he had decided that wearing the bit inside his mouth would be better. That was just one possibility that I came up with.
Another thing that I did that day was to ask for cooperation, such as asking him to turn his head in my direction to put the bridle on. When he gave it to me, I gave him what he wanted. Which was to look over where he thought "his mare" might be. And I gave him the look, I didn't let him take the look. After he gave me his attention and cooperation I then turned his head in the direction he wanted it in, instead of just letting him take his attention away from me. This kept me in charge and also allowed me to use the thing that mattered to him at that time as the reward.
All of this was slow and calm and gentle. And allowed me to cause Gunny to want to put the bit in his mouth, stay calm, and avoid engaging in a power struggle. And really with this type of thinking the possibilities are endless. It just depends on thinking about possibilities of what would work for each unique situation.
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