Origins:
How starting out in a world of doubt
is a beautiful thing
Published on 6 February
By Steve Goodall
My early life was spent in a band. I was so, so sure that would be how I'd spend the rest of my days; writing music and touring the globe. We did alright but one fateful day in my mid-twenties a dog called Rocco burst into my life. I didn't understand much about this black and white whirling dervish but, one thing I did know right from the start is I loved him to the ends of the earth. This lack of understanding led, over time, to a life changing realisation... It was actually what I didn’t understand about this dog that was VERY exciting indeed.
I found myself getting the "bug", attending training classes and reading books I didn't understand on the subject which, in turn, provided tantalising occasional glimpses of comprehension. My addictive personality sometimes serves me well and I got deeper and deeper into the world of canine behaviour at an alarming, but all too familiar, snail’s pace.
This snails pace learning didn't deter my passion and I managed to surround myself with people I wanted to learn from. I would constantly find myself the "stupidest person in the room" a position I was more than fine with. There is something to be said for asking what I thought at the time were dumb questions (of course there is no such thing). Being in this fortunate position is not that great for your ego but, it turns out, does wonders for your education.
The way my teachers, colleagues and the books I read talked about dog behaviour, and the way they made it relevant to the dalmatian cross in front of me, only served to ignite my curiosity ten fold. I suddenly became interested in science, a subject that had been lost to me next to the Bunsen burners in year eleven at school. I learned quickly to find wonder and enthusiasm in the current knowledge and the doubts that science provides. That "uncertain certainty" really struck a cord in me and fuelled my desire to read and learn more about our canine companions.
Committing to follow the science often means challenging and letting go of beliefs you've held as certainties for some time. I remember how my family used to train dogs back in the late eighties. Armed, with the best knowledge we had at the time, I was distressed to learn we didn't do too good by the dog we had back when I was a child. It would've broken our hearts to think there was a better way. We simply didn't know enough. This made me want to learn more.
I can't tell you the amount of times I've been reading books and my brain has been screaming "I don't get it". Words, phrases, scientific terms that simply won't go in (I never had the privilege of an academic brain or upbringing). I'd have to read, re read, write down and speak out loud in order to get concepts to stick. This is something that continues to this day. Where does all the stuff you read sometimes go (he says checking for a hole in the back of his head)?
The subject of animal behaviour is a gigantic universe and I, for one, am happy to be orbiting around somewhere inside it in a perpetual state of certain doubt. I've learnt that whenever some "dog fact" I deem certain is robbed from me it is usually replaced with another science(y) pot of gold to be rummaged through and explored (however long it takes for me to get my head around it).
On reflection this journey has given me one really important skill. The art of being able to change my mind. It isn't always easy, especially considering the world we live in but it is something us as canine professionals should strive for.
On social media platforms we often find aggressive certainty erupting at us through our phones. Our tribal nature's in the dog world seem to prefer being wrong in a gang together rather than alone and informed by the facts. I strongly believe that if we are to progress we need to foster that searching humility, that doubt that makes you question yourself, in the right way. We should always ask ourselves "why do I believe WHAT I believe and what makes up the foundations of my ideas and methods"? So often our deep held beliefs are there for a reason and that reason must be explored for the good of the animals in our lives.
Fast forward 15 years and I am now a proud Director at the Professional Association Of Canine Trainers (PACT). I'm teaching and coaching the next generation of dog trainers. If I think back to those early days of wondering what might be going on in Rocco's mind I never could of imagined the journey that inquisitive doubt would take me on. I see that same enthusiasm, spark and wonder in every student I've met so far (something I find incredibly exciting and humbling in equal measure).
Origins are a funny thing. They take us on journeys we could never comprehend. I hope by sharing mine I can help others act upon similar seeds that have been planted.