https://aeon.co/ideas/the-mind-isn-t-locked-in-the-brain-but-extends-far-beyond-it?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d3f294acf8-Daily_Newsletter_7_July_20167_7_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-d3f294acf8-69057377   Currently, all theories of behavior— save one — treat the mind of the dog as a self-contained faculty of intelligence. It’s the easiest way for the human intellect to conceptualize the phenomenon of intelligence given that the intellect is primarily fixated on material causation. As this article puts it, historically […]

  A child learns to crawl, stand, toddle, walk and run without stopping to wonder how they are capable of manipulating their arms and legs in order to move about. They do it because they can do it. It just happens. Apparently all a child has to do is want to crawl, stand, toddle, walk […]

    http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/19_6/features/A-Dogs-Theory-of-Mind_21468-1.html#.V1RHaXToVto.facebook The Whole Dog Journal in the link above provides an excellent summation of a series of experiments which purport to show that dogs are capable of adjusting their behavior by virtue of being aware of another beings’ point of view. I’ve written about this research before but the subject keeps popping up […]

One reason NDT is hard to propagate is that it requires seeing the evidence through an unfamiliar lens, what I call an immediate-moment manner of analysis. Some mistakenly think the shift required is metaphysical, others think it’s mechanical. Some say my interpretations are too simplistic, and then at another juncture they say it’s too complicated. (I […]

https://aeon.co/essays/the-feedback-loop-is-a-better-symbol-of-life-than-the-helix “We appear to have come to a threshold. The more we know about the molecular processes, the less sense the gene-centric perspective makes.” Sooner or later behaviorism will recognize the thermodynamic nature of animal behavior as the current gene-centric theory (random variability of gene encoded traits filtered by natural selection) makes less and less […]

Many clients of problem dogs are afraid that their pet, once a happy-go-lucky pup, has gone bad. Or they fear that an evil gene is now beginning to express itself, or worse, that they have failed their dog in some irretrievable, unredeemable way. As I go on to assure them that there is nothing constitutionally […]

Finally the Unknown Scientist has made an argument against me that isn’t wholly a straw man/ad-hominem work of rhetoric. https://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/kevin-behan-ignores-genetics-invents-a-new-history-for-the-doberman/ I have written that most breeds, the Doberman Pinscher in particular, have deteriorated when their function was subordinated to fancy and friendliness. The Unknown Scientist points out that the Doberman in reality suffered from a […]

The video below is a vivid example of the locomotive rhythm as basis of the animal mind, and how the mechanics of movement reveals the mechanics of the mind. https://www.facebook.com/TheVomitorium/videos/593739237384437/ From movement an animal derives its metric of self, safety, pleasure, well-being and constructs its view of reality. Objects come to mind, achieve their mental […]

Because this story is so intriguing and rich with theoretical possibilities, I will indulge in speculating out loud. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/parkinsons-treatment-wheels/story?id=8109965 When I draw on the blackboard my model for the mind of a dog, I feature the bi-focal “vision” that I consider a prerequisite for movement. In any state of attention there is the obvious external […]

  There are two possible views of nature. One is as a system of disconnected parts in competition with each other. In this view, bacteria and viruses are seen solely as infectious agents of disease. Or, we can see nature as a system of information processing. Raw, sheer energy becoming information. In this view, bacteria […]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/memory-hackers.html NOVA ran a fascinating show on memory last night which summated the history of research and the latest insights. Memories are rewritten each time they’re recalled. In one experiment by interrupting the rewriting process through a drug intervention, people with long standing phobias were instantly cured. In another experiment a mouse was inculcated with […]

I found this discussion on James Gorman’s Scientific American blog on dogs and of special note is one particular comment that I’ve copied in its entirety below. Of course we should always post an asterisk besides these kinds of accounts since they can’t be directly verified, but for me it holds the ring of truth […]

I’m honored that my immediate-moment manner of analysis has found a receptive audience in the tracking community. For sure this community is well practiced in studying the most minute fluctuations in the natural order. I can’t think of a more profound or fascinating way to engage with nature. Below Willem Larsen offers a very helpful […]

Whenever Coppinger inquires into the nature of the dog, conventional thinking and cherished romantic notions are quick to fall by the wayside. In “Work”  Coppinger has pushed the limits of the current paradigm to its breaking point, which is why it is a seminal book. Yet at the same time, the power of his argument […]

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPpf5WBaJR0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>   https://www.facebook.com/RantPets/videos/633147973490209/ While these videos are humorous, in a way that’s too bad since the profundity of what’s being revealed gets lost. The question: why does the hind end of these dogs virtually levitate while they’re feeding? Answer: Emotional momentum. Emotional momentum is physical momentum that an animal associates […]

  Anytime a book merges canine behavior with thermodynamics (the study of how things move) it represents a milestone in Dogdom. “How Dogs Work” by Raymond Coppinger and Mark Feinstein, (University of Chicago Press) is such a book. “It’s not too far off the mark to say that, for ethologists, what evolution really “cares about” […]

In Touch with Your Dog: How Getting Physical Helps Dogs Get Calm Rowe Camp and Conference Center November 6 – 8th, 2016 22 Kings Highway Rowe, MA 01367 Learn the “physics” of being physical with your dog, from a master trainer who knows what your dog really needs in order to be a calm companion. […]

    Anika is a “periphery” dog by which I mean that she feels most comfortable moving along the outer “emotional valence orbital” as there’s less resistance along this track. She’s analogous to the outermost electron in an atom. As such she ranges as far as she can from her handler while still maintaining contact.  I believe […]

I recently became involved in a discussion on a Facebook Dog forum. Although these probably aren’t a good way to make friends and influence people I nevertheless persist in order to practice interfacing my way of seeing dogs (emotion) with the other way of seeing dogs (thinking). And who knows, perhaps some reader will begin […]

I began my career in dogs asking what makes one breed of dog different from another, what makes one individual dog different from another, what makes one situation different from another? Others in dogdom were asking the same questions and the answers that came back were framed in such terms as territoriality, possessiveness, this or […]

One of the themes I will be highlighting in this seminar is how to become an extension of your dog’s mind, by teaching the dog that you are an extension of his body. It’s a process of entrainment, augmented by proficiency in the core exercises. Please see the link below. theevolveddog.com/products/natural-dog-training-with-kevin-behan-weekend-training-10-3-15-10-4-15    

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/world/europe/americans-recount-gunmans-attack-on-train-to-france.html?_r=0 “Mr. Norman recalled at the news conference in Arras on Saturday. “My thought was, ‘I’m probably going to die anyway, so let’s go.’ Once you start moving, you’re not afraid anymore.” Allow me to springboard off of current events in order to discuss the root source of all fears. The terrorist attacking the French […]

http://www.newhistorian.com/tiger-hunting-strategy-as-old-as-tigers-themselves/4376/ Neo-Darwinism theorizes that species evolve slowly as slight variations in traits, which supposedly vary at random between individuals, are selected for or against depending on how well these variations adapt the organism to the environment. According to consensus theory, over a long enough period of time and across a wide enough population base, slight […]

“Most people, including many scientists, believe that emotions are distinct, locatable entities inside us — but they’re not.” Lisa Feldman Barrett   Professor of Psychology Northeastern University http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/opinion/sunday/what-emotions-are-and-arent.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0 If you have been following NDT theory then you are not among the “most people” referenced above. My study of dogs through the lens of the immediate-moment […]

“Complex is not complicated.” Nicolas Perony (Ted Talk) This sums up the NDT model in a nutshell. NDT is the only theory of canine behavior which posits that sociability is simple, it is not the result of high cognition or learning as it is commonly and scientifically entertained. It is a flow architecture organized around […]

        “Complex is not complicated.” Nicolas Perony (Ted Talk) This sums up the NDT model in a nutshell. NDT is the only theory of canine behavior which posits that sociability is simple, it is not the result of high cognition or learning as it is commonly and scientifically entertained. It is a […]

When a dog is looking out, what’s going on within? Modern behaviorism and ethology claims it leaves that question aside and only considers observable behavior, but a close study of their terminology and usage shows that not to be the case. A discussion of a dominance hierarchy in dogs brings this into view.         In […]

I’m excited to be presenting the NDT model and method on the beautiful coast of Maine on my favorite time of year, early fall. Thanks to Leah Twitchell of the Evolved Dog for organizing this event and we both would appreciate your attendance and/or best wishes for the weather to come through in all its […]

I excerpted the following from a dog discussion site: “I have an interesting question, which I’m not sure there is a definitive answer for, but may lead to some interesting discussion.   How do dogs learn calming signals (appeasement behaviors, etc)?   I know there are lots of terms used for these behaviors, but calming signals seem […]