Focus: Energy Flows Where Attention Goes
When my dog is chasing a ball, or I ask him to do something with a treat in my hand, his focus is like a laser. Energy flows where attention goes. Focus is one of the key components to animal communication. Setting an intention and clarifying our thoughts makes it easier to share a clear understanding of what we want with our animals. For example, if I want my dog Prince to get off the couch and stay off, I may give him the command “off”, all while thinking—with a lot of frustration, “I know this rascal. As soon as I turn my back, he is going to jump right back up on the couch.” Guess who will be sitting on the couch all day? There’s more flow of energy to my thoughts about him jumping back up on the couch when I turn my back than to my command that he get off. He just follows the energy.
Prince will be on the couch.
Who can resist those gorgeous brown eyes and black floppy ears? I must. I want him off. my. couch.
How do I communicate to him that the couch is off limits? The first step is to be clear about why I want him off the couch and where he is welcome to lounge instead.
I want him off the couch because the couch is starting to smell like dog.
I want him off the couch because he is dirty and he’s making the couch dirty.
I want him off the couch so every time I sit down I don’t think, “Ahh, it smells like dog…I need to clean…I need to give him a bath…” and start down the rabbit hole of all the things I need to do that I don’t have the time or energy to address when I just want to sit on the couch for five minutes.
I want him off the couch because I want him off the couch.
Where do I want him to lounge instead? There are a variety of places he can lounge, his bed, the floor, the porch, the yard – just not on the couch.
How will I feel when he is lounging elsewhere? I’ll be happier when my couch is no longer a dog bed. I will feel more comfortable when people come over and my house is clean. I will feel more at ease that he won’t jump up and join my friends on the couch.
Having clarified what I want, I have a new focus—for him to stay off the couch. I use my intention to focus my attention on letting him know that his job is to find new places to lounge. I back up my focus with thoughts of feeling happy seeing him comfortably sprawled out on the floor. I now firmly tell him “off” while I am thinking about him comfortably lying on his bed or on the floor. Focusing on his new job makes it easier to reorient his lounging, partially because it’s not fueled by the frustration and big energy of “GET OFF THE #*#@ COUCH.”
Can I make staying off the couch fun with my focus? I deliver this new plan with the intention of bringing a similar level of enthusiasm to it as to playing with the ball. The opportunity is to focus and find the feeling he has while playing ball of “come on, come on, throw the ball!” to “come on, come on, on the floor!” then couple it with the level of excitement he shows when bounding off to find the ball. I imagine seeing him lounging on the floor, while I say “on the floor” and couple that image with the feeling of pleasure or excitement I know I’ll feel when he actually does this. Once I master this, you are invited over for a nice chat on my clean comfortable couch.