leadership

Achieving Success Using Mental Performance Training Part 1

June 1, 2010 by teamineka

Achieving Success Using Mental Performance Training Part 1

By Robert Forto, PhD

Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

Japanese Proverb

Many competitive human/canine teams, whether in the ring, on the trail, or on the field, are so busy preparing and being busy that they have no idea where their busy-ness is taking them. In contrast, some teams have expressed their visions, but do not appear to be directing much of their activity to achieving them.

After a human/canine team (hereafter just referred to as ‘team’), has a well defined vision, they need to move on to making that vision happen.

Ask yourself these questions:

What needs t happen for [vision]?

Is there anything else that needs to happen for [vision]?

Repeat the second question until no further actions emerge, and then ask:

What is the first thing that needs to happen?

After you answer this question the seeds are sown, and your team’s attention is on the vision and the steps you need to take to start to move towards it.

This is just the first installment in a series that I am working on for my first book, Run With Poodles. The book is about creating success in your business and personal life through the eyes of a dog team. I am a professional musher and I am training for my first Iditarod in 2013. I am also a practitioner of Neuro-Linguistics (NLP) and I am using my training to harness the power of my team and teaching others leadership through empowerment.

If you would like to learn more about leadership through empowerment please feel free to contact me a leaddog@teamineka.com

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Dr. Robert Forto is a professional musher training for his first Iditarod racing under the Team Ineka banner. Dr. Forto can be reached through his website at https://teamineka.com

Images by Al Magaw

May 23, 2010 by teamineka

Images

By Al Magaw

There had been a bear breaking into the shed where I keep dog food. No matter how I tried to board the shed up, the bear kept breaking in and helping itself to the dog food. To top it off, the bear was walking right through the dog yard, through the centre of some of the dog’s picket circles. The dogs seldom barked at the bear when it came through the kennel, and the only real signal the dogs gave when the bear came was the peculiar rattle they made with the chains. One afternoon, I heard the nervous rattle of the chains that indicated the bear was back. When I heard a yipe from a dog, I grabbed my rifle and headed to the dog-yard. I wasn’t going to put up with my dogs being mauled – dog food was one thing, my dogs were something else and I was going to do what I could to protect them. The bear heard me coming, I guess, because it scattered long before I could even aim the rifle, but it was the reaction of the dogs to me that surprised me. When I came around the corner into sight of the dogs, they all dove into their houses, a far cry from their usual reaction to my arrival in the dog-yard. This time I was a hunter, a predator. This wasn’t the “dad” they knew, this was danger! Normally I’m greeted with great enthusiasm in the dog-yard, but this time I was greeted with fear. The dogs had never seen the gun before, so they couldn’t have understood what it was, it had to be the images I was sending that created that fear. When I realised what was happening, I forced myself to relax. It took a few moments after I relaxed for the dogs to start tentatively stepping out of their houses and a few more minutes before they were confident that I was “OK” before they resumed the normal behavior that they have around me.

It was early fall and we were into a full regular training schedule, 4 days a week, two days on, one day off, two days on, two days off. Rain or shine, mud or dry land, I felt the schedule had to be kept. The dogs were coming along well, enthusiastic to run and conditioning nicely. One morning when I left the house to travel the 300 feet to the dog yard, the dogs all hid in their houses. I wondered “what the heck???” then I stopped to “look” inside of myself, what I was feeling inside. It was then I realised I was in a bad mood, for whatever reason, I was feeling out of sorts. The dogs had felt that from 300 feet away. I decided it was not a good day for training and went back to the house. There is something very powerful in the ability of animals to feel, sense, or “see” what we feel, our moods, our faults, and who knows what else.

Do you have a remarkable story about one of your dogs? Contact us at live@dogdoctorradio.com We would love to hear from you.

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Al Magaw is a musher from Salmo, BC. Al keeps a medium sized kennel of 20 – 45 alaskan huskies as well as several pet dogs of various breeds. Al has been training and racing for the last 33 years. Before becoming involved with sled dogs, Al, along with his family, kept and competed with horses for many years. Al can be reached through his website at http://www.spiritofthenorthkennels.com Al is a guest blogger for Denver Dog Works and can be reached through our website at http://www.denverdogworks.com

Influential People in the Development of Learning Theory Part I

May 11, 2010 by teamineka

Influential People in the Development of Learning Theory Part I

By Robert Forto, PhD

Huxley and Darwin

It is unclear when formalized studies of learning actually began, however, Professor Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895) birthed the theory of association in the early 1870’s. Professor Huxley stated that “It may be laid down as a rule, that, if any two mental states be called up together, or in succession, with due frequency and vividness, the subsequent production of one of them [mental states] will suffice to call up the other, and that whether we desire it or not.” This observation may very well have laid the groundwork for later studies in respondent and operant conditioning. Huxley was an outspoken advocate of the naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882). The professor was so passionate in his defense of Darwin’s theories that he was often referred to as “Darwin’s Bulldog”.

In Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotion in Man and Animals, Professor Huxley’s influence was evident in Darwin’s observations of the emotions of man and animals. When studying animal expression Darwin was vividly aware of the challenges associated with those observations. He writes, “The study of expression is difficult, owing to the movements being often extremely slight, and of a fleeting nature.”Nevertheless, Darwin’s careful observations were of immeasurable value to later researchers. Darwin continued where Huxley left off by recognizing that movements, no matter how complex, can be performed with little or no forethought and minimal efforts when they have been performed with enough frequency. This premise was the foundation for Darwin’s Principle of Antithesis, which reasons, that states of mind lead to the performance of “habitual actions”, when a “directly opposite” state of mind occurs, there is a “strong and involuntary” tendency to perform movements and actions of a “directly opposite nature”. This principle is of special interest to observers of canine communication techniques, and can help the astute observer decipher the signal being sent and received by a canine, whether it is intra- or interspecies communication. Darwin states further “that gestures and expressions are to a certain extent mutually intelligible.”

Darwin speaks of his own dog’s “hot-house” face and reasoned that the opposite expression displayed by his dog was innate and not a deliberate attempt at communicating his desire to not go to the “hot-house.” He further states, “hence for the development of the movements which came under the present head, some other principle, distinct from the will and consciousness, must have intervened.”

While the vast majority of canine communication is accomplished via body language, there is some evidence that canines posses at least a limited verbal vocabulary. While most canines in the wild do not bark, but howl, this is not the case for the domesticated canine. According to Darwin “…some animals after being domesticated have acquired the habit of uttering sounds which were not natural to them. Thus domesticated dogs, and even tamed jackals have learnt [sic] to bark, which is a noise not proper to any species of the genus with the exception of the Canis latrans of North America, which is said to bark.” In regard to the Principle of Antithesis “…the bark of anger, and that of joy are sounds which by no means stand in opposition to one another;…” This lack of observable difference between barks is likely the reason that canines rely on body language so extensively. Canine body language has been studied extensively and is well documented. These postures or lack of them have been discussed in-depth in chapter three.

This is will be a multi-week series on the influential people in learning theory and the dawn of modern dog training.

If you have any questions or comments we would love to hear from you at live@dogdoctorradio.com

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Dr. Robert Forto is the training director of Denver Dog Works and the host of the Dog Doctor Radio Show. Dr. Forto can be reached through his website at http://www.denverdogworks.com

Fox and Goose

May 9, 2010 by teamineka

Fox and Goose

By Al Magaw

One winter evening, my family and I watched seven, four-month old puppies play under the yard light in the snowy field in front of our house. The seven puppies followed each other around in a circle making a packed trail about 60 feet in diameter. Then they followed one another, single file, to make several paths that intersected the circle. The pattern made in the snow was indistinguishable from the circle that children make when they play the game, “Fox and Goose”. We were all crowded at the window, the lights in the house turned off so we could see better. We watched, at first in amazed silence, then with peals of laughter, and finally with disbelief of what we were seeing.

One puppy would take his place at the intersection of the crossed trails and the other six puppies evenly spaced themselves around the circumference of the circle. As if at a signal, the puppy in the centre dashed out the spoke of the wheel, turned onto the circle and grabbed a madly fleeing puppy by the tail. After a brief scuffle, the puppy that had been caught went to the centre of the circle. All of the puppies on the circle sat down facing the pup in the middle. They waited until the pup in the centre bolted to the outside circle. Again there was a mad dash around the circumference until another pup was caught. To our amazement, they played this game for about 3/4 hour, sticking rigidly to their self-imposed rules. I had never seen or heard of such behavior at the time we watched the puppies play Fox and Goose, but a few years laterI read in the National Geographic Magazine of a scientist observing the same behavior in a group of wolf pups.

We would love to hear your comments regarding this article. Please let us know at live@dogdoctorradio.com

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Al Magaw is a musher from Salmo, BC. Al keeps a medium sized kennel of 20 – 45 alaskan huskies as well as several pet dogs of various breeds. Al has been training and racing for the last 33 years. Before becoming involved with sled dogs, Al, along with his family, kept and competed with horses for many years. Al can be reached through his website at http://www.spiritofthenorthkennels.com Al is a guest blogger for Denver Dog Works and can be reached through our website at http://www.denverdogworks.com

K-9 Communication by Al Magaw

May 2, 2010 by teamineka

K-9 Communication 2

By Al Magaw

I’ve had so many comments on last week’s blog, all positive – I really expected some controversy about animals, and us, to a lesser degree, being able to communicate wordlessly, and without motion, to indicate thoughts – I’ve received stories that told about dogs being able to inform their owners when there was a sick lamb, stories about dogs that just “know” when there is something that’s going to happen that involves them without any obvious indication from the owners, to the story of the siberian husky that wakes it’s owners every morning from Monday to Friday so they aren’t late for work, but lets them sleep in on Saturday and Sunday – obviously, the siberian can read the calendar? – no, I didn’t think so – I’d like to share part of a letter from an old friend that I received a number of years ago – a letter that started me wondering a bit more and observing more closely, how animals communicate without words – In part, the letter reads —-

“Kuma, my Rottie, is an angel in the shape of a dog. He made his way through three bullets to reach my door. He has taught me much about play, about lightening up (in training), and visualization. He has led the way for me (to) learn deep mind/body/spirit communication from him”. ——– “Kuma has showed me what my next pathway will be as an animal communicator. I am seriously looking into that field as I would truly like to be able to “speak” with dogs and horses and learn what they really have to say about issues in their lives.” She goes on to say, “Rottweilers are pretty intensive dogs, different from any I have owned before. Kuma is teaching me to “send” pictures to him as a way of communicating”.

My friend goes on to describe how she found Kuma on her porch one morning, badly wounded with three bullet holes in him. She nursed him back to health and on one of the first walks with him.

“He started to chase some deer that went flying off in front of him.” “I immediately sent off a picture of him in the stage of a stock horse doing a sliding stop.” — “He looked just like a stock horse as he slid to a stop. He immediately came right to me, the first time he had done so off leash.” “I felt like I had just won a championship!” “it was an awesome moment. He is one powerful dog who displayed a fine line between play and aggression when he first came into my life.”

The letter goes on to talk about mutual friends and interests — I’ve read this letter from my friend many times over the years since I received it and it still sends shivers up my spine, shivers of recognition of what is what is real and possible, if only we could learn.

We would love to hear your comments regarding this article. Please let us know at live@dogdoctorradio.com

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Dogs Need Heroes Too

March 20, 2010 by teamineka

Dogs Need Heroes Too

By Michele Forto

“I had seven dogs who would go to the end of the earth for me, and nine more who would try,” Lance Mackey, 4-time Iditarod Champion

When I was a kid superheroes were still popular. I remember being seven years old and not just dressing up as Wonder Woman for Halloween but wishing I had that invisible airplane of hers to travel around in.

My kids generation, being born in the nineties, I can’t recall them actually having superheroes to look up to. That was the time of sport heroes. We all know and can understand when we place the burden of being a superhero onto a regular person who just happens to be able to “fly” on the basketball court that it sets that person up to quite a bit of scrutiny.

It’s refreshing to read stories about the Iditarod in its 38^th year and listen to the passion in the voices of the men and women as they talk about their dogs and the Last Great Race. I myself turn 38 years old this year and I’m always saddened to realize that I didn’t know that the Iditarod was even a race until about 18 years ago. Growing up in California it wasn’t taught in the schools. Sure I saw the movie Iron Will and read the stories about Balto. I knew of the Great Serum Run and the significance that it had on the State of Alaska, but other than that it seemed like fiction to me.

When I met my husband Robert, within four months he had my eight year old son Kyle, and myself on the back of a dog sled, the cool wind in our faces, holding on for dear life. I remember feeling very afraid, “where are these dogs going to take me!” After my first run and losing my team, I realized it wasn’t about the dogs it was about the musher. I had to learn to trust my dogs, especially my leader, and work with them as a team.

This realization came together for me on a very bad six mile run on Casper Mountain in Wyoming. I was running a new lead dog, her first race with me, a dog just 10-weeks postpartum, and four yearlings in their first race. There was a terrible snow storm that blew out the trails; visibility was zero in places and the other mushers where too far ahead of me to be of any guidance. At one point I stopped my team to adjust their harnesses, the snow on the trail was about 8 inches deep and there was a steep hill ahead of us. I got to my leaders, Moon, my newest dog, and Tamaya, a great dog who ran for my three year old daughter, I told my girls to take us home. I set us back on the trail and we headed out with me dredging through the thick wet snow with my girls digging in and tugging hard. We finally arrived at the finish line with my husband and two other people that were mushing our dogs and my three kids, everyone happy to see me. I was happy to see them too, but I was proudest of my dogs, the seven of us learned how to be a team.

You see the Iditarod and all the dog sled races out there are just there as a way for the musher to pay back to his team, it’s their reward for being heroes along the way. The dogs will let you yell, cry, laugh, and joke around, they won’t ever judge you and IF you can let yourself go you will find the hero within you.

I have a poster up in my training center of Iditarod champion Doug Swingley it simply says “Dog’s Need Heroes Too”. I know I was a hero to my dogs that day and they know they were my heroes.

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Michele Forto is the business manager and lead trainer at Denver Dog Works. Michele can be reached through her website at http://www.denverdogworks.com