The Link Between Dog Whispering and Baby Whispering

The new trend in parenting: applying dog training skills to raising children. Once you get over the shock of thinking, “my kid is NOT a dog!” you can actually see the wisdom here. It’s called “calm-assertiveness” and according to Cesar Millan, aka “the Dog Whisperer,” it is the foundation for balance in the home (albeit with a dog).

And with a toddler, what parent doesn’t crave balance? Think about it – if a child enters this world without language skills and is left to rely on reading energy to communicate (I mean, yes, a newborn has his own set of very important needs that he dictates, but he still has to navigate his surroundings), then how different is that than a puppy?

Here’s this environment and I have to survive…who’s the “pack leader” and who is the “submissive”? If you break it down like that, the situation is both oddly natural (i.e. instinctive) and just plain old weird.

As adults within a society, people seem to have established “authority” by virtue of being older. But a baby doesn’t know this. A baby just knows who to look to for food, where to comfortably sleep, and that someone, somewhere will change him. Take away the changing part, and you could be talking about a puppy. Right?

To Cesar Millan, the key to a balanced home is exercise, discipline and affection. He states that, “as the human pack leader, you must set rules, boundaries, and limitations and always project a calm-assertive energy.” Yes! It’s the same with toddlers lest they take control of the house and run all over you.

Love it! Now, I’m no dog trainer…hell, I don’t even have a dog and am mostly a cat person, but I am totally down with this approach.

Toddlers need to run and climb and jump to not only develop fine motor skills but to rid their little bodies of energy so they can concentrate on things like eating and sleeping when the time comes. With too much bottled up energy, they get all wiggly and tend to completely misbehave.

As far as discipline, toddlers need to know the limits within which they can freely roam. Structure gives them stability and that allows their minds to soar. If they can count on the boundaries, then they can truly explore. If they are always guessing where the limits and boundaries are, then that is what they focus on and everything becomes more scary.

Finally affection – who doesn’t need a little (or lots) of love?!? Love makes the world go round, right? Toddlers relish love and affection and good thing they are so cute because, as a parent, don’t you just want to eat ‘em up?

Now, I’m not saying that babies are dogs…but I am saying that I see merit in “training” your child to respond to the alpha dog (you) in your home instead of becoming the alpha dog himself. Let’s face it, someone’s gonna play that role, might as well be you.

photo credit: Cia de Foto