Kinship with all Life – a “classic” read

Kinship with all Life

I have just finished reading J. Allen Boone’s book, “Kinship with all Life” (refer to my reading list page). I highly recommend this book if you are interested in human-animal inter-species communication. It is a CLASSIC. One of Tom Dorrance’s favourite books and on Pat Parelli’s recommended reading list.

“Some” of my favourite passages are:

“There’s facts about dogs”, he said, “and there’s opinions about them. The dogs have the facts, and the humans have the opinions. If you want facts about a dog, always get them straight from the dog. If you want opinions, get them from the human.”

… “yet in all that experience and with all these opportunities for intelligent observation, I had never actually seen a dog! I had merely looked at dogs, without being able really to see one of them.”

“I was privileged to learn from my dog instructor how to get my human ego and intellect out of the way, how to blend my best with Strongheart’s best, and how to let the Universe express itself through us, as the Universe with its wisdom and long experience well knows how to do.”

“The most significant difference between training and educating an animal, I learned from Strongheart, lies in the matter of emphasis. It depends on whether one places emphasis on the mental or the physical part of the animal. The conventional trainer, following traditional and rigid patterns, places his emphasis almost entirely on the physical. As long as his animal looks its best and obeys orders promptly, he is satisfied. The conventional trainer starts from a negative premise.
… The animal educator does just the reverse of this. Moving into the situation with insight and intuition, he places full emphasis on the mental rather than on the physical part of the animal. He treats it as an intelligent fellow being whose capacity for development and expression he refuses to limit in any direction. He knows that the animal’s appearance, actions and accomplishments are only the outward expressions of its state of mind. He seeks to help the animal make use of its thinking faculties, so that there will be corresponding results in its looks, character and actions.”