Lao Tsu (or Tzu) likely wrote the Tao Te Ching (pronounced dow-duh-jing) over 2 millennia ago, yet his passages are timeless, providing insight into human nature and the cause and effect of our thoughts and actions in the greater world. Taoism, springing forth from the Tao Te Ching, is considered by some to share principles with the tenets of anarchism (anarchy in the UK-uh, ancient China?). What better combination than ancient wisdom and the dismantling of the hierarchical power structure to help you improve your scent work game!
Since every line of the Tao Te Ching could be unpacked into a full length post, I’ll give a few examples of how I relate this tome back to scent work, and let you take your own deep dive into the text at your leisure.
Passage 29:
“… The universe is sacred. You cannot improve it. If you try to change it, you will ruin it. If you try to hold on to it, you will lose it.
So sometimes things are ahead and sometimes they are behind; Sometimes breathing is hard, sometimes it comes easily; sometimes there is strength, and sometimes weakness; sometimes one is up and sometimes down.
Therefore the wise avoid extremes, excesses, and complacency.”
Just taking these words at face value, you can apply them to your training and handling relationship: quit messing around with how your dog approaches scent work! If you try to make your team excellent because you think you know how things should be done to achieve competitive goals or because your dog had an amazing search once and you want that every time, you will lose. So chill out, relax, and enjoy the roller coaster ride that is scent work with your dog.
Looking deeper into this passage, there is a call to action on a philosophical level. You need to truly believe that the experience of scent work is not yours to manipulate for your own desires and needs. Reverence needs to be present and authentic. You are the learner, even when you feel like you are in a teaching role for your dog, you are learning. You do not know how to teach, you are not yet evolved to understand the experience your dog is having. You are always the learner. Complacency, in this case, is forgetting to remind yourself of the above truths on a daily basis.
Do not try to hold on to what you want from your dog in scent work or you most certainly will lose it. Think of a typical competitive scenario: threshold searching. We all love a chance to call a fast find. It feels and looks great! But, how often do we worry over the possibility of a threshold hide being left behind?! We begin to want something for our own sake, losing sight of what our dog is doing and experiencing, and drifting away from understanding our dog.
Of course, there should be balance – avoid extremes! With the right balance, your choices regarding the way your dog works threshold finds will actually arise from your dog’s needs, not yours. You will be focused on helping your dog to happily and effectively work in the way he needs to, not in the way you want him to. There is an art to this, and there is a greater purpose in this way of interacting with your dog. It is a very healthy way to interact with all life.
Passage 47:
“Without going outside, you may know the whole world. Without looking through the window, you may see the ways of heaven. The farther you go, the less you know.
Thus the sage knows without traveling; He sees without looking; He works without doing.“
I like to think of this passage as illuminating the idea that the fundamental principles of the universe are present in everything, everywhere, from the small to the massive, from the mundane to the exotic. It is up to the observer to see the similarities in all things.
An Odor Recognition Test (ORT) is a perfect example of uniformity and scale. Every challenge you might assign to a high level search can be glimpsed in an ORT. How is this possible? Most dog and handler teams at an ORT have underdeveloped teamwork and are more susceptible to slight miscommunications (dog & handler at odds about where to go) and novel changes to environment and odor (roll up door nearby causing draft).
Volunteer at a few ORTs and note how often teams are in disconnect or how often environment and odor perplex dog and handler. Then, go to a high level competition, like Elite, and witness the same universe of challenges on a larger scale and the teams will often appear as disconnected and perplexed as novices.
The remedy? Learn about yourself and your dog on the micro level. You don’t need crazy challenges and high level searches with time pressure to witness your dog’s tolerance for complexity, you can see the behaviors in even the simplest of setups. As you advance through the levels of competition, stay focused on your dog. Partnership and connection are the least likely features of a team to be built up and refined as time goes on: start apart, stay apart. Don’t sacrifice true teamwork in order to perform in the moment (think any human who has walked their dog up and down rows of boxes pointing and pleading, “search!” as the dog panics and offers to poke his nose at each box, except the odor box, which makes the human think it’s definitely not in that box; which makes the dog sad).
There’s a quote I love, (attribution is unknown): How you do anything is how you do everything.
The level of care and interest you take over the most mundane or inconsequential acts throughout your day, reflects upon your character just as much as how you behave when you believe the stakes are high. If you are interested in doing well in competition. you should take a look at how you perform in other areas of your life with your dog. How do you connect on a daily basis – are you fostering the same kind of energy and partnership that you hope for on game day? Are you caring for your dog? Grooming – even if you pay someone to take care of most of these needs – can be a great way to establish partnership. Is there mindfulness in every interaction with your dog throughout the day?
Once again, in the interest of balance, you aren’t trying to be the universe’s number one dog owner. Life has to be lived, which means there may be an ebb and flow to how much time you and your dog spend together and what you do during that time. The key is to raise your awareness to the value of these interactions when they are happening.
Random Wisdom
The way I like to use the Tao Te Ching is to randomly flip to a passage each morning and ruminate on how that passage might affect my goals for the day. So, this next passage has been randomly selected:
Passage 66:
Why is the sea king of a hundred streams? Because it lies below them. Therefore, it is king of a hundred streams.
If the sage would guide the people, he must serve with humility. If he would lead them, he must follow behind. In this way when the sage rules, the people will not feel oppressed; When he stands before them, they will not be harmed. The whole world will support him and will not tire of him.
Because he does not compete, He does not meet competition.
This is an easy one. Replace sage with yourself as handler, trainer, human teammate, and replace the people with your dog. Note that you are the ruler, the king of a hundred streams. Cool it! You didn’t win the lottery. As the passage says, “if he would lead them, he must follow behind.” This is your unending struggle. How to lead by following. How to be a guide, a servant, a leader. Not so easy… Maybe start with: be humble, do not compete. Follow your damn dog! Listen to your mother flappin’ dog!
“…In this way when the sage rules, the people will not feel oppressed.” I see oppressed dogs in scent work more than I’d like to. These are dogs that have had their agency taken away, dogs that are not being listened to. The opposite of an oppressed dog is an expressive dog; a dog who revels in communicating, who shares information about the search environment freely and fully, passionately persisting in painting a picture of odor movement, knowing that there is a sage handler receiving that information with respect and gratitude, and a genuine interest in understanding the dog. Expressive dogs are cultivated and blossom because of sage handlers. Be a sage handler!
The Tao Te Ching is an ancient text you can find in reproduction everywhere. I highly recommend the translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, which you can get here. I have both a travel-sized version of the Fu Feng & English translation and a full sized version with chinese characters and beautiful black & white photography. I enjoy ruminating on at least one passage from the Tao Te Ching daily.
Happy Sniffing!
Sniff This Blog 