Baboons

A rather "normal" traffic sign on the Cape Peninsula.
I took the picture after an early morning walk with Lupa in Tokai, a wealthy Southern Suburb of Cape Town alongside Orpen Road, close to the Steenberg Golf Estate. Do not think this is something like the open plains of the wilderness where wild animals live. It is a very affluent area full of palatial houses of wild Capetonians, golf estates, shopping centres and parking lots with very expensive cars.
For the baboons, life is becoming less and less easy as humans are encroaching more and more on their habitat. I read in a local paper that there are plans to "protect" the palatial villas against the baboons by means of a multi-million Rand fence, separating animals and "civilisation".
On the Groot Constantia wine estate I have met Baboons several times. From a distance of about 5 m I could see how they were eating the grains of the wheat, planted on an area where old vines had been oprooted. Neither Lupa nor me felt that the baboons were dangerous.
I rather found it a privilege that I was able to meet and observe wild animals.
I loved it.

Dog Running Zone

Dog Running Zone
Having finished my class at DARG I drove to the beach in Hout Bay. I had never walked there and wanted to put my feet in the cold water of the ocean, before heading for Dario’s coffee shop. Although it was a Saturday morning, the beach was almost empty. Enjoying the cool water around my ankles, the warmth of the sun, the light breeze and the view of the mountains all around me, I arrived at a spot where I saw a sign on my left hand side. I’m always interested in the information written on these signs. Coming closer I saw the text: Dog Running Zone.
Shaking my head I thought about how completely different this was from Spain. Over there sharks called “developers” have poured concrete over every Spanish beach and a bit later came laws prohibiting everyone to walk with dogs on the sandy leftovers. Over here I have never seen a beach full of high rise buildings, tourist trap restaurants, bars and shops selling Chinese junk. And now I had discovered the Hout Bay beach with a “Dog Running Zone”. In Muizenberg, on the other side of the mountains, there is a sign on the beach inviting people walking with dogs to do it before 9 a.m. or after 6 p.m. What a difference with Spain!
Teaching in DARG has offered me the opportunity to clearly experience the distance between two totally different kinds of dog loving people. In the many green belts where the wealthy Capetonians walk with their dogs I meet many confident, fast walking, friendly, assertive people with up to 8 (eight) dogs off leash. They do not wait for their dogs. They seldom call them. They walk and the clear message for the dogs is “Hey, pay attention to me”. The dogs understand that clear message and follow the leaders. In these surroundings of the green belts I have never witnessed a fight between dogs. For that reason I started calling the Alphen Trail the “Alpha Trail” as all the walkers I meet there walk like Alpha leaders of their pack. They certainly do not need someone like me to teach them how to walk their dogs.
The other category of dog lovers are the many female volunteers who walk the dogs on the DARG estate. I see how the dogs of the charity pull them along all over the grounds. When the dogs stop, they stop and wait too. When the dogs jump up, they praise them by stroking them and speaking to them with baby talk. In these female volunteers I see no confidence, no calm assertive energy. In their faces, voices and in their body language I clearly see how they want to give love. Why? Because they themselves need love.
During the meetings with DARG’s president, she had asked me if I would admit her volunteers for free in my classes. I agreed. But both the president and I had made an assumption. The assumption was that the volunteers would be interested in learning how to walk a dog properly. What happened when I started teaching? Only a few of the volunteers attended my classes once or twice and then disappeared. Walking over the DARG estate I had distributed business cards, inviting the female volunteers who did not attend my classes to send me an e-mail message, enabling me to send them my free weekly letters. Not one of them sent me an e-mail. The message was clear for me: They do not want to learn how to walk a dog. They only want to love the dogs. I suppose that loving the dogs the way they do it has a therapeutic effect on them, which of course is very good. Making the assumption that they also want to learn something in my classes was my mistake.

Black Belt Chances of Success

Dear Friends,

Being a student of martial arts is constantly offering me important tools for my personal development. To give you one example: Moving to Cape Town I became a student in the school for martial arts in Kenilworth. Having already obtained 11 different belts in other "dojos" I was nevertheless invited to start here as a white belt. This was (and is) for me quite a lesson in humility. During the ritual that precedes every training we all say together:

"I will be humble, peaceful and honourable. I will strive to be a better person. I will respect all human beings. I will not injure or harm others. I will not be too proud or modest. I will practice with earnest and patience and apply these principles in my daily life."

Today the sensei sent me the picture you can see above about the chances of success.
If you read the text and think about it, you will see how these "chances of success" are not only applicable for those who are striving to become a black belt. They are true for everything we do in our daily life.
Also in our daily life with our beloved pets.

Love and blessings from Brunothedoglistener

DARG-Course in Hout Bay

Dear friends,

It is my pleasure to announce to you that on Saturday 04.02.2012 I will start teaching a course of canine communication on the premises of DARG in Hout Bay (Cape Town).
Be quick to register because based upon experience it is best to have not more than 15 participants in one group. I repeat once more that it will not be an obedience course for dogs. What we will do is learn to behave in such a way with our dogs that they will understand us.
It is not about WHAT we say but HOW we say it. It is not about WHAT we do but HOW we do it. My assumption is that our dogs know everything about how to be a good dog and that "bad" dogs do not exist.
I will teach you how to observe your dog and how to "listen" to what she/he is saying by means of body language. The second step is learning how to clearly understand the messages your dog is sending you. Last but not least you will learn how to behave like the leader your dog would have in a canine pack.
Learning all that is not easy but it is very rewarding, as in the end, you will not only see the difference in your dog, but also in every other aspect of your life.
At least if you have the will to learn, if you refuse to go into denial, if you are persistent, patient and consistent.

Good luck and kindest regards from Brunothedoglistener.

INVITATION DARG 28.01.2012 at 9.30 for 10.00

The charity called “DARG” or Domestic Animals Rescue Group located on Main Road in beautiful Hout Bay, has invited me for a talk about

“How to live in harmony with my dog”.

You will find DARG (www.facebook.com/DARG.org.za)alongside Main Road in Hout Bay/Cape Town - South Africa.
Please call 021.791 3903 or 021 790 2050 in order to reserve your seats because we have a limited amount of chairs.

How can we live in harmony with our dogs?
Having worked for decades with droves of dog lovers I came to the conclusion that the training of dogs becomes only possible when we do something else first. First and foremost we have to understand our dogs.
In order to understand our dogs we have to learn their language.

How do dogs speak? Do they speak English, or Zulu, or French, or Xhosa, or Spanish? No, they do not speak a verbal human language. But they speak something we can easily learn to understand and that something is “body language”. It is a language we speak ourselves every day without consciously noticing it. Linguists tell us that whenever we use words, we lie most of the time. To lie with words is easy. But have you ever tried to lie with your body? That is much, much more difficult. Or let’s look at it differently: With our body we speak the truth, most of the time. Now that is very interesting. It means that if we learn to read the body language of our dogs correctly it becomes very, very easy to understand them. It becomes easy because dogs always speak the truth.

As soon as we understand our dogs, we can communicate clearly with them without having to deal with misunderstandings like pulling, obsessive barking, chewing furniture… you name it.

When we can clearly communicate with our dogs, we can educate them in such a way that they accept and respect us as their pack leaders. If they accept and respect us as their leaders, we are sure they are paying attention to us when we want it. That is what we need. Ever tried to educate a dog (or a human) who ignores you?
As soon as our position of leader in the pack is clear, then and only then can we start training our dog in agility, fly-ball, nose work, man work, carting etc…
After the talk you can enroll for a six months course in canine communication that will start at.9.00 on Saturday 04.02.2012 on the DARG premises.

See you there.

Kindest regards from Brunothedoglistener.
www.brunodogs.co.za
info@brunodogs.co.za
079 393 3553
021 761 3801

As nature intended

Dear friends,

Underneath you can see a picture of Lupa, taken right after sunrise, in Tokai lower park. The rising sun has painted a golden varnish on her brown coat.


Cape Town 15.01.2012

After the walk we had breakfast at Tashas in Constantia Village on the Cape Peninsula. For a change I ordered toast with goat’s cheese, avocado and tomato. While eating we were talking about the possible link between our blood type and the ancient history of humankind. We know that the theory of Peter D’Adamo is not based upon what is called “scientific evidence”, but here I go with a very simplified summary.

When our oldest ancestors were still hunters and gatherers their blood group was O. But as soon as humans became nomads following their cattle on its never ending travels to new feeding grounds, the blood group A came into existence. When our ancestors, in what we now call “the Middle East”, started with a new thing called “agriculture” the blood group B was born. I do not know if author Peter D’Adamo is right with his theory but I certainly do believe that I am what I eat. Here are a few examples.
If I eat bread with cheese before going to bed I definitely have a bad night. When I eat a mix of bananas with prunes and apricots during my early morning walk, I have a feeling of walking with a brick in my stomach for the major part of the day. Visiting a restaurant and having a late dinner with friends means that hereafter I will not sleep well. Let alone what drinking a few cups of coffee (or glasses of wine) would do to my system.
I also believe that, having reached 68 years of age, I can still do long walks and practice martial arts because I love locally grown organic food and have never smoked. It is my opinion that driving a very expensive car is utterly ridiculous but every day I want to have a Rolls Royce in my belly. I want the same for my dogs. I can feed them the cheap S.H.I.T. pellets manufactured by people who hate dogs and love money. Or I can feed them natural, organic food. For a few months I have prepared their fresh raw food myself. I went to the local butcher, mixed the meat with vegetables and rice and served it. But then I found a much more convenient solution, “as nature intended”.
I got to know Cheryl and Chris Davidson from Muizenberg on the Cape Peninsula. Not so long ago they started feeding their dogs and cat a natural raw food and immediately saw the difference in their pets. Talking to friends about the visible changes that occurred with their animals they soon discovered there was a market for this kind of pet food. That was the beginning of a new family owned small business “As nature intended”. To cut a short story even shorter: I do not prepare the meals for our Muensterlaender Lupa anymore. Instead I love driving down the short distance between Wynberg and Muizenberg, have a look at the ocean, feel the wind in my face, buy the pet food from Chris, have a chat with him about their growing business and then I head home after a cup of coffee in Kneads bakery. To give you an idea of the price: One meal costs us 14 Rand, which is about 1,4 Euros. Of course that does not include the price of the cup of coffee in Kneads. But don’t worry if you do not live close to Muizenberg. Chris told me he just bought a new van for deliveries throughout southern Western Cape. And who knows? This might be an idea for a new company on the Costa Blanca! More info on http://giveadogabone.co.za/
Kindest regards from Brunothedoglistener

The power of the left eye

Dear friends,

For years on end I have been observing the (body-)language of dogs. It is how they speak and it enables me to understand them, to communicate with them and educate them.
This lead me to observing my own body language and that of my fellow humans. Now this is a very interesting and fascinating study.
My work as a New Warrior in MKP and the fact that I am a student of martial arts gave me even more insights in how I feel and accordingly how I behave and communicate with my body language.

Do you remember how I used to say that the less you say to a dog, the better the communication works?
Do you remember how I invited our group to walk for ten minutes without saying anything?

Well if you are interested in discovering the difference between our two modes of thinking, the verbal and the non-verbal switch to the following website and read about The Power of the Left Eye.

http://www.scienceofsoulmates.com/The_power_of_the_left_eye.htm

You will read how our left eye is literally the window to our soul and the indicator of the hidden, unmasked true self.

Enjoy.

Love and blessings from Bruno