Trust and Respect in pet relationships

Trust, in both human and pet relationships, is vital.   It takes a long time to create total trust and only moments to destroy it. This is a picture of Dozer (the dog)  and Cinder ( the African Grey Parrot) showing perfect trust.  Neither dog nor bird are leashed or tied in any fashion, they have free will to leave if they wanted.   I had Dozer before I got Cinder as a tiny fledgling.   Hand feeding this bird along side of the dogs showed them that I valued Cinder.   As time passed the dogs were shown that this 500 gram or 17 ounce bird held a high ranking in the pack.   I allowed Cinder to exert authority over the dogs for the obvious reason of size difference.  One paw slap in play from my pet would kill him.    Gentle introduction and correction of the dogs allowed me to have Cinder out of his cage (always supervised)  with his four legged buddies.

Many dogs greet you with an intact level of trust they willingly offer.   If you respond negatively to the pets greeting then you have broken a level of trust and must work to regain that.  Respect goes hand and hand with trust.  When your pet does not respect you the behavior offered is sometimes unpleasant.   You can see this upon the pets greeting, do they jump up on you?  Or do they come and stand before you waiting their turn to be petted. 

 Jumping up is one sign of disrespect.  Another is biting the hand that feeds it.   Many a dog has been sent to the pound or euthanized because of just these two behaviors.  But bad habits can be dissected to find the root cause and worked on to correct. 
Just as some dogs offer you trust and respect upon greeting, you too need to respect them.  Gone are the days of foisting an open hand down to the pets nose to sniff.   They don't need your hand to smell because every part of you exudes scent.  You are ... scent... to them.  Following Mother Nature's lead we acknowledge that the dog's first sense in life is smell, then hearing, then sight comes last.  Too often people try to communicate with dogs from the eyes, then ears , then nose.   This is confusing and will not build your respect in their eyes.   Cinder first heard me, then saw me.  So I follow that line when working with birds. 

When you achieve total trust and respect from your pet, be it dog, bird , or cat, you will find a new level of relationship has opened up.  There will be little need to constantly talk; instead learn to  develop your communication skills in non verbal ways.   People will be amazed when, with the flick of a hand signal, your dog hurries to your side and sits quietly.   Enjoy the secret relationship you have developed with your kids and watch as the mutual trust and respect grows.


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