Power of Perspective
Part 1
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By Kim Howatt on August 1, 2023
I am curious.
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Have you ever considered the fact that we each have unique perspectives of life's experiences? Not just we humans, but our dogs, too?
While we of course share similar opinions with like-minded folks, the truth is our perspectives are unique to us. Day-to-day experiences create our point of view, and tomorrow some viewpoints will already change.
Our point of view is not simply a result of what we see and experience in the physical world. Our perspective encompasses our body-mind-spirit as well.
The subject of perspectives has become daily contemplation for me as I work with dogs and their humans to grow and to deepen their bond through this life together.
The work I do shifts the belief systems and mindsets of human clients through listening, interpreting, and sharing the perspective of the animal.
While we of course share similar opinions with like-minded folks, the truth is our perspectives are unique to us. Day-to-day experiences create our point of view, and tomorrow some viewpoints will already change.
Our point of view is not simply a result of what we see and experience in the physical world. Our perspective encompasses our body-mind-spirit as well.
The subject of perspectives has become daily contemplation for me as I work with dogs and their humans to grow and to deepen their bond through this life together.
The work I do shifts the belief systems and mindsets of human clients through listening, interpreting, and sharing the perspective of the animal.
Expanding and widening our perspective beyond our own lives and beyond our own experiences is a very important skill when it comes to understanding our dogs.
The ebbs and flows of a flexible mindset release us from single-focused opinions and belief systems. Believe me when I say this is a skill that takes practice and persistence, like learning a sport or becoming fluent in a new language.
As we start our perception training program, we realize that our view of the world around us is naturally microscopic and very personal. I will give you an example of this later on.
For now, the nugget to remember is this:
We naturally have a limited perspective when we ask questions like "why" did my dog act that way.
The ebbs and flows of a flexible mindset release us from single-focused opinions and belief systems. Believe me when I say this is a skill that takes practice and persistence, like learning a sport or becoming fluent in a new language.
As we start our perception training program, we realize that our view of the world around us is naturally microscopic and very personal. I will give you an example of this later on.
For now, the nugget to remember is this:
We naturally have a limited perspective when we ask questions like "why" did my dog act that way.
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Defining Perspective
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When I set out to write this article and to define the word perspective, I found that there were many varying ... perspectives, LoL. By far my favorite definition from all the subtle variances is also the simplest:
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PERSPECTIVE IS THE SCIENCE OF OPTICS.
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This definition provides a very expansive view, the point of this article. Perfect!
The word OPTICS is defined as SEEING, LOOKING, OR INSPECTING.
This is pretty straightforward. We comprehend a situation from our unique angle and unique facts.
The word SCIENCE has a more robust definition, but I chose this extremely simplistic one because it struck a chord with me:
SCIENCE is defined as KNOWLEDGE OF ANY KIND.
The beauty of the word science is that it is curiosity and experimentation by its very nature, and we are nature.
SCIENCE is defined as KNOWLEDGE OF ANY KIND.
The beauty of the word science is that it is curiosity and experimentation by its very nature, and we are nature.
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We Are Solely Responsible For Us
As we often hear in the positive training and partnership world, our dogs offer us a brilliant opportunity for learning and growth. They reflect our beliefs, feelings, and honesty back to us. When this reflection feels good, it feels great. When this reflection feels icky we question everything. We need to be proud of ourselves and our relationship when life flows and feels cozy. When it feels icky and resistant, it's simply an indication that we are being inflexible. This icky feeling is letting us know that it is time to return to basics and focus on expanding our viewpoints. Frustration, anger, irritation, depression, lack, guilt, and so many other emotions are indications that it's time to return to working out that perception muscle.
All of our dogs are incredible gifts that bring us riches beyond our wildest dreams. But make no mistake, it is our "broken" dogs - the sick dogs, reactive dogs, hyper dogs, barking dogs, aggressive dogs, chasing dogs, and unruly dogs .... it is these soul beings that wake us up from our comfort and complacency. We may not sense there is more to our purpose and our potential. because previous dogs were "perfect" or "easy". Trust me, the "perfect" dogs were showing us the same messages, but we didn't hear the whisper.
All of our dogs are incredible gifts that bring us riches beyond our wildest dreams. But make no mistake, it is our "broken" dogs - the sick dogs, reactive dogs, hyper dogs, barking dogs, aggressive dogs, chasing dogs, and unruly dogs .... it is these soul beings that wake us up from our comfort and complacency. We may not sense there is more to our purpose and our potential. because previous dogs were "perfect" or "easy". Trust me, the "perfect" dogs were showing us the same messages, but we didn't hear the whisper.
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So how do we support our challenging dogs?
Flexibility.
When we flex and strengthen our perspective muscles, we begin to widen our view and see a more expansive picture. Not only do we see more but we also become aware of how much we will never see.
Here is the example I promised earlier.
Imagine you are in a gigantic warehouse. It is the size of a small city and many stories tall. You are handed a flashlight and set off to explore the items stored there. You can't see much, can you? You only see one small stream where your flashlight beam is pointing, and it fades away in the distance.
If you and I were in the same warehouse with our flashlights, we would see different items, but if we met in the soup isle and shared our light beams, we would be able to see a little bit more. But... even though we see something similar, our perspectives will still be different. I may see a can of "sou" while you see a can of "oup".
This is how it can be for humans and our dogs. We see a person running down the street, exercising. Our dogs see a predator. It takes flexibility to understand our perspective is unique to us, and that what we see is vastly different from our dogs. And don't forget the runner's perspective!
Flexibility.
When we flex and strengthen our perspective muscles, we begin to widen our view and see a more expansive picture. Not only do we see more but we also become aware of how much we will never see.
Here is the example I promised earlier.
Imagine you are in a gigantic warehouse. It is the size of a small city and many stories tall. You are handed a flashlight and set off to explore the items stored there. You can't see much, can you? You only see one small stream where your flashlight beam is pointing, and it fades away in the distance.
If you and I were in the same warehouse with our flashlights, we would see different items, but if we met in the soup isle and shared our light beams, we would be able to see a little bit more. But... even though we see something similar, our perspectives will still be different. I may see a can of "sou" while you see a can of "oup".
This is how it can be for humans and our dogs. We see a person running down the street, exercising. Our dogs see a predator. It takes flexibility to understand our perspective is unique to us, and that what we see is vastly different from our dogs. And don't forget the runner's perspective!
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It is never personal
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Oh, it sure feels personal sometimes. Trust me, I know, LoL. When I feel icky, and when challenges arise that I feel unprepared for, I just remember that it is never personal. Everything belongs.
It has been incredibly freeing to understand my infinite smallness in this vast universe. I am one of over 8 billion humans on this planet, and humans are one species of 7.77 million animal species. Let that sink in.
On one hand, it seems as if we are so small that we are insignificant, but that is not true at all. We are all energy, and we are all energetically connected, so we are each extremely important, just as each cell in our body is extremely important.
Every cell in our body is purposeful, and every living entity on this planet, in this universe, and in the whole of the cosmos is purposeful.
What a gift to be given life in human form and to be blessed with our animals choosing to join us on this journey.
It has been incredibly freeing to understand my infinite smallness in this vast universe. I am one of over 8 billion humans on this planet, and humans are one species of 7.77 million animal species. Let that sink in.
On one hand, it seems as if we are so small that we are insignificant, but that is not true at all. We are all energy, and we are all energetically connected, so we are each extremely important, just as each cell in our body is extremely important.
Every cell in our body is purposeful, and every living entity on this planet, in this universe, and in the whole of the cosmos is purposeful.
What a gift to be given life in human form and to be blessed with our animals choosing to join us on this journey.
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Simplify It!
Perspective is based on knowledge. It is the angle or point of view that we see an experience. Our perspective will shift as our knowledge base grows. (This is why I loved the word science in the definition!.)
From perspective comes opinion. Opinions are personal views. Opinions are when we have personally decided that we feel one way or another.
Shared opinions become belief systems. Belief systems are made up of a group of like-minded people. We all have belief systems in our life.
This is completely natural of course. Humans will be humans, but our dogs do not live in this way and with this mind that breaks everything down into reasons. Connecting with, and understanding our dogs requires that we work on our perception muscles and expand our awareness.
An example of a perspective is feeling nervous to walk our reactive dog in the busy park. This is our current and narrow perspective because of knowledge and experience we gained from the past. We have walked our dog in the park previously, and our dog barked and lunged at others.
The facts are simply that our dog barks and lunges. It is possible to understand triggers, but with how much detail? Every person (man, woman, child, walking, jogging, biking, coats, hats, whistling, wearing sunglasses?) This list indicates how few facts we actually know.
It is our opinion that our dog is reactive to all people or all dogs; therefore, we conclude that we cannot walk them in the park. It is also our opinion that our dog needs to be trained or that this issue needs to be "fixed".
The belief system comes into play as we meet others like us that have reactive dogs. We continue to feed ourselves with the opinions of other like-minded folks, validating our mindset and burying us further in the quicksand.
How might we widen our perspective to see more angles, to see more of the warehouse? Can you come up with some ideas? Can you see how little factual information we honestly *know*? Do we even know what our dog's perspective to the situation might be?
From perspective comes opinion. Opinions are personal views. Opinions are when we have personally decided that we feel one way or another.
Shared opinions become belief systems. Belief systems are made up of a group of like-minded people. We all have belief systems in our life.
This is completely natural of course. Humans will be humans, but our dogs do not live in this way and with this mind that breaks everything down into reasons. Connecting with, and understanding our dogs requires that we work on our perception muscles and expand our awareness.
An example of a perspective is feeling nervous to walk our reactive dog in the busy park. This is our current and narrow perspective because of knowledge and experience we gained from the past. We have walked our dog in the park previously, and our dog barked and lunged at others.
The facts are simply that our dog barks and lunges. It is possible to understand triggers, but with how much detail? Every person (man, woman, child, walking, jogging, biking, coats, hats, whistling, wearing sunglasses?) This list indicates how few facts we actually know.
It is our opinion that our dog is reactive to all people or all dogs; therefore, we conclude that we cannot walk them in the park. It is also our opinion that our dog needs to be trained or that this issue needs to be "fixed".
The belief system comes into play as we meet others like us that have reactive dogs. We continue to feed ourselves with the opinions of other like-minded folks, validating our mindset and burying us further in the quicksand.
How might we widen our perspective to see more angles, to see more of the warehouse? Can you come up with some ideas? Can you see how little factual information we honestly *know*? Do we even know what our dog's perspective to the situation might be?
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Perspectives of Raidho Canine
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Supporting my clients with options, ideas, and a holistic path forward is what I do in Raidho Canine and how The Raidho Canine Way™ came to be.
Throughout my animal communication experiences, I have witnessed first hand the importance of listening to the dog and how understanding their honest perspective brings relief to the human. During the session, it is beautiful when a dog's honesty comes forward in our one on one part of the session. And oh how heart-warming when I witness the human experience of this message during the live part of our session. It is a soul-to-soul connection from beginning to end, and I am blessed to be the conduit and the interpretor.
All of life is interconnected which makes all of our experiences co-creations. Universal connection and co-creation are belief systems I love.
We naturally align ourselves with others who share similar belief systems, and this is how intimate relationships, friendships, and collaborations are born. Neat!
Throughout my animal communication experiences, I have witnessed first hand the importance of listening to the dog and how understanding their honest perspective brings relief to the human. During the session, it is beautiful when a dog's honesty comes forward in our one on one part of the session. And oh how heart-warming when I witness the human experience of this message during the live part of our session. It is a soul-to-soul connection from beginning to end, and I am blessed to be the conduit and the interpretor.
All of life is interconnected which makes all of our experiences co-creations. Universal connection and co-creation are belief systems I love.
We naturally align ourselves with others who share similar belief systems, and this is how intimate relationships, friendships, and collaborations are born. Neat!
Right off the bat, interconnection and co-creation infer that many perspectives exist in one single experience with our dogs. Remember that our viewpoint is only one perspective. Woah!
When birds fly south for the winter there are many different flocks. They fly together, shifting in amazing synchronicity. This is life interconnected.
Think of the migration as a belief system of like-minded groups performing a similar job. To demonstrate complexity, there are many smaller flocks of birds within the gigantic group flying south for winter, arriving at unique destinations.
We can use the migrating birds as an analogy from corrective dog training to positive dog training as long as they don't decide to migrate back to corrective dog training, hahaha!
Over the decades of my adult life, I have seen the transition from corrective training to positive training. Just as some birds do not migrate, some trainers still use correction-based methods. They are likely not part of our like-minded group.
But within the positive training group as smaller subsets of groups, treat training, game-based training, relationship training, clicker training, and even no training.
The great part is that we can curiously find and figure our where we fit in. What is our experience, knowledge, and perspective? What opinions have we formed? What people make us feel good and supported along our journey?
We alone are responsible for how we feel and how we move forward. It is important to feel great about who you work alongside.
When birds fly south for the winter there are many different flocks. They fly together, shifting in amazing synchronicity. This is life interconnected.
Think of the migration as a belief system of like-minded groups performing a similar job. To demonstrate complexity, there are many smaller flocks of birds within the gigantic group flying south for winter, arriving at unique destinations.
We can use the migrating birds as an analogy from corrective dog training to positive dog training as long as they don't decide to migrate back to corrective dog training, hahaha!
Over the decades of my adult life, I have seen the transition from corrective training to positive training. Just as some birds do not migrate, some trainers still use correction-based methods. They are likely not part of our like-minded group.
But within the positive training group as smaller subsets of groups, treat training, game-based training, relationship training, clicker training, and even no training.
The great part is that we can curiously find and figure our where we fit in. What is our experience, knowledge, and perspective? What opinions have we formed? What people make us feel good and supported along our journey?
We alone are responsible for how we feel and how we move forward. It is important to feel great about who you work alongside.
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The Raidho Canine Way®
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This article is for entertainment and information only. It is, of course, my opinion.
Are you ready to say "Yes" to widening your perspective and expanding your knowledge? This is simple but it is not easy as we will potentially cross some rough emotional terrain as we work through self-reflection.
If you say YES, then let's work side-by-side with your dog(s) to deepen your bond and live an incredibly brilliant life together.
I am here to empower you, inspire you, and guide you as we share experiences and perspectives together with your canine family.
I offer 1:1 sessions for dogs and humans, and my Canine Co-Creators Adventure is an absolutely incredible opportunity where we work with a small group of like-minded dogs and humans continuously over 8 weeks.
raidhocanine.com is where you can read more details!
"When we listen to our dog's perspective, it changes our lives in magical ways."
Love & Light,
Kim
Are you ready to say "Yes" to widening your perspective and expanding your knowledge? This is simple but it is not easy as we will potentially cross some rough emotional terrain as we work through self-reflection.
If you say YES, then let's work side-by-side with your dog(s) to deepen your bond and live an incredibly brilliant life together.
I am here to empower you, inspire you, and guide you as we share experiences and perspectives together with your canine family.
I offer 1:1 sessions for dogs and humans, and my Canine Co-Creators Adventure is an absolutely incredible opportunity where we work with a small group of like-minded dogs and humans continuously over 8 weeks.
raidhocanine.com is where you can read more details!
"When we listen to our dog's perspective, it changes our lives in magical ways."
Love & Light,
Kim