Diagram:
an adaptation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943)
According
to Maslow (1943) all human beings have a hierarchy of needs, it is
displayed as a pyramid and before an individual can go up in the pyramid each
need needs to be fulfilled, The first part is physiological needs this is the
need of survival: the need to breathe;
have food and water; able to excrete; sleep; and
the need to procreate. After all these needs are met individuals go up in the triangle to the next level; which
is safety needs, in order to feel safe there is a need for good health, all
resources readily available to sustain physiological needs like: warmth; a
place to live; stability, cleanliness; safety within the family; and a role
within the family. Once these needs are
met and sustained ‘beings’ progress up another level to love and belonging : love from the family;
relationships; and a sense of belonging
and sexual intimacy; once these needs are met further progress to the next
level esteem : here individuals seek self-esteem; confidence; achievement and
respect, fun and play. After the esteem
needs have been met you progress to self-actualization
which means fulfillment, where you reach
for your actual potential this is a constant process, and provided that all the
needs in the lower levels are being met you constantly strive to develop.
The
dog has the same needs as you, in the wild a dog will seek his needs himself
and a domestic dog will seek to satisfy his own needs, so in order to prevent
the dog seeking satisfaction that might not fit in within the
family home it best to provide those needs. Just providing those needs can prevent bad
behaviour developing or even eliminate a
behaviour that is undesirable. On the whole a bad behaviour develops not
because it is wrong in the dogs mind but that need has not been provided by the
owner.
If
you provide a dog with food, water, a place to excrete, and allow them to sleep, and not get to hot
or cold the dog will survive. So having
given the dog a chance to survive you need to provide the dog with his safety
needs, in order for the dog to feel safe he needs to know that all of his
physiological needs will always be fulfilled, your need to ensure he is in good
health, a safe place to live and sleep, warmth, stability, his role within the
family is safe.
It
does not take much for a dogs feeling of safety to be undone. A move of house,
a new member of the family, a change in
routine, a new dog or cat, even a new dog moving in to house up the road can
threaten the dogs feeling of safety.
Once
the dogs physiological and safety needs are met they progress to love and
belonging, all dogs have a need to belong whether it is within a pack of dogs
or within the family home, a building of relationships is very important for
good behaviour. It is at this point
that If you have an entire dog or bitch
and their need for procreation is not fulfilled the dog is going to have
difficulties progressing to the next level of need, its not impossible but
there might be a certain amount of
frustration and distraction.
So
now you have a dog that is surviving, feels safe, and has a sense of belonging,
the dog then needs his esteem addressed. Ensuring that the first three levels
are sustained will give the dog confidence, however life is unpredictable and
there confidence can be quickly dented.
This can be overcome by ensuring that the dog makes achievements, this is when training
comes into its own. Each new skill a dog
learns boosts his self esteem, the more he learns the more tools he has at his
disposal to deal with the unpredictably of life and ensuring that his confidence
carries on developing. A dog is a dog
and needs to do dog things for his own esteem;
to smell the air, feel freedom,
run, play, and chase. At this level bad
behaviour is replaced by good behaviour.
Now
the dog that was just surviving, is now safe, feels that he belongs, he is confident
with a high self esteem, he is now ready to embark on the journey of fulfillment whereby he can maximize his potential, with the support of his
owner. The journey is only just beginning.
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