The Proper Raising of Spaniels and Children: No! They are
not Equal
Dan Langhans and I repeatedly laugh about my dissertation
because during the oral defense phase one of the committee questioners
asked what I thought was a "dumb" question about human behavior.
I answered, "Well, different people do different things under
different situations." The reviewing docs nodded, gave me grave
looks, and murmured deep aahs. Dan and I laugh because during the
week before my dissertation defense somebody in the field asked him
a "dumb" question about a dog's behavior and I heard him
answer, "Well, different dogs do different things under different
situations." Rightly so, Dan takes total credit for my graduation.
Further, when I was interviewed for my first hospital job as a psychologist,
I told the interviewer that most of what I understood about human
behavior was learned from associating with Spaniels and their trainers.
That comment lead to a long interview and my getting a job that lasted
for 10 years.
During that first job tenure, I wrote (with proper credits) the following
about child rearing, "Training correctly far exceeds correcting
problems; and never traumatize your child. You now possess the two
sacred rules for successful child rearing. Training correctly includes
the following elements: Plan each lesson, be willing to alter lessons
to accommodate the child's most current need, never lose your temper,
praise your child or remain neutral, seldom punish, insist that your
ward does tasks that he/she is capable of."
As you know, in the late 1800s H. S. Carlton wrote a book called "The
breaking of Spaniels for the Field." He wrote, "Training
correctly far exceeds correcting problems; and, never traumatize your
young dog. You now possess the two sacred rules for successful spaniel
training. Training correctly includes the following elements: Plan
each lesson, be willing to alter lessons to accommodate the dogs most
current need, never lose your temper, praise your dog or remain neutral,
seldom punish, insist that your dog does tasks that he/she is capable
of."
It should go without saying that children are not equal to dogs. However,
we may learn from the animal and human behavior studies literature.
Jesse T. Sekey, Psy.D.
JTSekey@aol.com
847-833-6468
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