Kevin Behan
Apr 21-23, 2006
The energies at work inside our bodies, what we know of as emotion and feelings, are ancient forces. Emotion and feelings constitute our animal consciousness, and we can’t identify or understand our feelings simply by thinking about them. Our thoughts are specific to our modern life, whereas our feelings work according to a very old, primal logic.
Separating emotion from instinct and feelings from thought is easy if you apply the proper frame of reference. Enter the dog, our best guide through the deepest levels of our animal psyche. If you want to know what you are feeling, look at what your dog is doing.
What do dogs want? How do they see us? The only animal that has mastered our internal, emotional milieu is the domestic dog; dogs feel what we feel, which is why they’re able to share our lives. If we can learn to be in tune with a dog’s energies and work with a dog’s nature, we can learn to channel its emotional energy in cooperative ways. Dogs learn by heart. We’ll learn how to project emotion as a pure form of energy to a dog and receive it in turn. Body language and vocal tone can heighten, rather than interrupt, a dog’s emotional continuum.
Kevin Behan will present an emotional model of dogs that offers a more comprehensive and satisfying explanation for everything canine, including the evolution of wolves, the domestication of the dog, and the nature of the strong bond that’s emerged between dogs and people.
In this workshop, we’ll learn to see dogs as creatures of the immediate moment, animated by emotion and informed by feeling. By working with a dog and its feelings, we gain access to the emotional logic running our own animal consciousness.
This workshop is not an obedience school for dogs; rather, it is an opportunity to understand the emotional life of dogs, and humans as well.
This workshop is limited to 10 dogs, so each dog will get individual attention, although two people can come with one dog. When you sign up, we’ll send some additional information.
Kevin Behan grew up in the dog business the way some kids grow up in the circus. His father was world famous for training dogs for the Canine Corps in WWII and then for training dogs for protection, law enforcement, and hunting. Since training his first dog at ten, Kevin has worked the full spectrum of extreme behavior problems and extreme circumstances. The more he learned, the more he studied the science of dogs, always seeking the “truth of dogs.” In 1981 he started his own kennel while also pursuing his other passion, the world of nature. In 1992 his book, Natural Dog Training, was published. After countless hours watching and listening, he realized it is the dog’s wild nature, not his submission, that lets him bond with us. Forcing a dog to repress his natural energy leaves him blocked and unable to cooperate consistently. Releasing and channeling his energy leaves him open to us on all levels and in all situations. We are pleased to welcome Kevin back.