Dog Pure Awareness blog

I imagine Camp David (where of course I have never been) – a long winding path, about 2 years from now. The Dog and President Obama are walking through the cool, damp forest. Moss and leaves bend under paws and feet, and branches glisten above them.

The Dog freezes. He has picked up the faintest scent from a fallen tree trunk ahead. His breathing quiets, his whole body quiets, in order to focus completely on the source of the scent.

And the President is right there with him, focusing on the energy of his dog’s alertness. Whatever this man was thinking about beforehand – how to handle a certain Senator, how to word a certain idea – is gone. His mind is clear and tuned to his dog. Obama loves these moments, when he and his dog are totally focused together. Everything falls away except that moment. They are there together in the hunt.

There is a loud swoosh, a flurry of wings, and the pheasant hiding in the brush by the fallen tree rises into the air and up, through the branches, into the sky. The dog and the President are both startled. Then the dog takes off, racing through the forest in a doomed but exciting attempt to catch the bird, and the President smiles at the beauty and freedom of his dog, and he is happy.

The Obama family is getting a puppy, and everyone smiles thinking of the children and the wonderful, lovable puppy. But I’d like to look at the influence of that puppy on our President as they spend the next four years together. Barack Obama will grow into the role of president, and the puppy will grow into a mature, intelligent, fully aware dog. And as they spend time together, they will grow together.

Imagine that late at night, exhausted from a day of difficult and contentious issues, Obama is sitting in his favorite chair and his dog comes to his side. And he reaches down and puts his hand on the dog’s back and they are connected. And some of the tension in the man starts to dissipate as he tunes into the calm, centered energy of the dog, and he begins to feel calmer. And after a while, he feels renewed, no longer caught up in the political fighting of all the groups he has to deal with, and back to his centered, quiet self.  This is the serious side of the human-dog connection.

The psychiatrist, Daniel Stern, talks about our thoughts when we are with another person who is important to us. This person can be a partner, a friend, or a therapist. We ask: What is he thinking? What is he feeling? Does she know what I am feeling? Is she thinking about me?

We ask these same questions about our dogs, who live with us and are important to us. Our dog is staring at us, and we wonder: What is he thinking? What is he trying to tell me? Right now, I am feeling a great affection for him – does he sense this? Does he know what is going on in my mind?

In this blog, I’d like to answer any questions you have about human-dog connections. If you are interested in relational psychology, I would be happy to answer questions about the theory and how I have adapted it to the human-dog relationship.