Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

I too, have stood on the shoulders of giants, and there is no shame in that. It is only by learning from others, their weaknesses, their strengths, that we better ourselves at all. It is only by apply what we learn that we shape a better world. I have learned a lot from the people I’ve worked with. I learned a ton about behavior and reading body language in both cats and dogs while working at the shelter. I learned a ton about training from Pete Murphy, who is now the lone trainer at the shelter. I have also learned a ton by training on my own with my dogs, shelter dogs, and teaching classes. I have gotten so many ideas from other trainers in books or in podcasts, and sometimes I find those ideas work for me and I incorporate them into my classes and teachings. Sometimes they don’t work for me, but either way I learned something.

Sometimes I feel people wonder why they should learn from someone who’s still learning. Well, my answer to that is that the best practitioners in any field are still learning- there’s a reason doctors call it a “practice”. There’s a phenomenon that I have been aware of for a long time and am constantly wary of. It’s called the Dunning-Kruger effect. Basically, people with a lot of skill in a particular field tend to underestimate their skill and knowledge in that field. However, those without a lot of skill and knowledge tend to overestimate their skill and knowledge because they don’t know how much they don’t know. It’s an interesting phenomenon that those with true skill have a tendency to suffer from doubt and indecision.

This is why I’m constantly studying and reading and trying to learn more and more and more. I want to have the best knowledge at my fingertips to use when I can. There’s a saying, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”, that I consider to be true, and I do not want to find myself with only a hammer to hold.

So who are my giants? Patricia McConnell, for a start, and Ian Dunbar, the father of modern dog training. Add in Brenda Aloff and Sarah Kalnajs for their work with body language. And you may as well add in Jan Fannell for her holistic view of dogs (though I don’t agree with all of her views, the way she ties everything together is amazing and wonderful). Then there’s Malcolm Gladwell for his investigations into how the brain works and the little intricacies in our perceptions of reality- his books Blink and the Tipping Point are each a must read! It’s impossible to list all of my giants, because there are so, so many. And I hope I do them justice by climbing on their shoulders and maybe seeing an inch or two farther. This is why I don’t mind if you climb on my shoulders- maybe the inch or two farther you might see will change how we view the world.