Honor Your Dog's Instincts Archives

Be Aware of Your Energy

A Powerful Paradox

In the years that I’ve been working with dogs, I’ve met some pretty powerful people. Not all of them are necessarily famous, but a lot of them have daily lives where they’re in charge of many others, or they run Fortune 500 companies, or they’ve been elected to office. They’re the kind of people who can make things happen with a word, and their subordinates listen to them — sometimes out of fear, but usually out of respect for their knowledge and authority. No Authority With Pets But there’s a reason that I’ve met these people. They’re very powerful in

September 12, 2020 No Comments

Cesar Millan

It All Makes Scents

Three years ago today, humans did something amazing. After a trip of nearly eleven years, the European Space Agency put a probe in orbit around a comet and placed a lander on that comet. Okay, that lander, Philae, didn’t quite end up the way it was supposed to, but it was still an impressive feat. That probe had to travel 310 million miles to get precisely to an object only 2.5 miles across — only slightly wider than Manhattan at its widest point. But that’s one of the things that humans do. We explore. Of course, we have to build

November 9, 2017 No Comments

Letting Go

Today is Mother’s Day in the U.S. It’s a commemoration that happens all over the world on different dates, although the vast majority of those happen in May, covering the entire month. In my home country of Mexico, the date is fixed on May 10. In my adopted country of the U.S., it’s always the second Sunday in May — which means that sometimes it’s the same day in both places, like it was in 2015 and will be in 2020. But there’s a more important lesson in the day than the when and why and, again, we can turn

May 12, 2017 No Comments

A Dog's Senses Form His Reality

Similar And Different

A dog and a human are very different species. Our last common ancestor probably lived about 60 million years ago, so while we have a biological connection it is a bit distant. However we do have a lot of shared traits through being warm-blooded mammals — we have hair, four limbs, two eyes, and give birth to live young. Now, I could say the same thing about gophers, hedgehogs, and a lot of other animals, but I don’t think anyone is going to immediately think that they’re just like us or vice versa. And yet, with dogs, a lot of

January 20, 2017 No Comments

All About Dogs

Strange Facts About Canine Instincts

Every dog is born with a number of natural behaviors, things they can do without having to be trained or taught. Certain breeds have incredibly visible canine instincts, such as guarding or herding behavior, or strong natural hunting abilities. These are instincts that have been intentionally bred into these dogs over generations. But while dogs can be bred to encourage particular skills and behaviors, there are also a number of natural instincts that every canine shares. Many of them are so innocuous or understandable that most Pack Leaders don’t even think about them. Some examples include dogs’ inborn ability to

December 8, 2015 No Comments

dogs running in the snow, there are natural leaders and followers

Dog Psychology

Natural Dog Law 5: Dogs Are Social Pack Animals.

As descendants of wolves, dogs are instinctual pack animals. They instinctually seek to join whatever pack is nearby. This explains why dogs can get along so well with so many other animals, especially other pack or herd animals like horses, cows, and sheep. There’s even at least one case of a dog and elephant becoming best friends. It’s also why dogs have bonded so well with humans. We too are social creatures and dogs instinctually sense that and seek to join our pack. We humans have become ‘ or should be ‘ their Pack Leaders now. In a dog pack,

July 3, 2015 No Comments

10 Principles for Achieving Balance

Principle 5 For Achieving Balance: Honor Your Dog’s Instincts

Because dogs are animals and species first, they all share a common set of instincts. They are connected to nature, live in the moment, communicate with energy and, as pack animals, seek calm and assertive leadership. Consider Instincts of a Dog Breed Although the animal and species instincts are common to all dogs, their breeds can sometimes affect behavior. Breeds were by humans created for different reasons ‘ some dogs were bred to be companions, some to be herders, and some to be protectors. Each was bred to draw out and focus on desired instincts to create dogs that excelled

July 3, 2015 No Comments

Cesar Millan

Let It Be

Show of hands — how many of you consider your dogs to be your children? Do you call them your “fur babies” and include them in family events? Maybe celebrate their birthdays, talk to them constantly, feed them scraps from the table? Well, if you’re doing these things, you’re acting like a lot of dog owners. The problem is, if you are, then you’re doing all of the wrong things for your dogs. As I like to say, in Mexico, dogs are skinny but happy. In other places, they are fat and neurotic. The Problem with Humanizing Your Dog Considering

June 18, 2015 No Comments