:Moving with synchronicity

Andrea sent the photo below which is followed by her note in which she uses ‘in sync’. The word synchronicity popped into my head, so I looked up the definition. According to Wikipedia, the philosophical concept of synchronicity is the experience of two or more events which occur in a meaningful manner, but which are causally un-related. In order to be ‘syncrhonistic’, the events must be related to one another temporally, and the chance that they would occur together by random chance must be very small.

It could be debated whether moving a dog in the ring would apply to the above definition. However, it certainly brings a point home to me…just as did the slides Thursday night, quietly repeating in the background as we conversed. Dogs are masters at body language. It is how they communicate. The slightest movement in our facial expression may mean nothing to us, but dogs pick that up with great skill. If I’m having a problem communicating something to a dog, obviously sending the wrong message, I step back and ask myself two things. What am I reinforcing. And what am I inadvertently communicating.  

To move correctly in the show ring, dogs must first have the proper structure for their breed. Lhasa Apos move like a normal dog, unlike the Pekingese which roll when gaiting. Tigger, a Tibetan Terrier, in the photo below, shows balanced movement front and rear, efficient reach and drive and effortless movement. He looks like he could do that all day long…which some of his ancestors did alongside Yak trains in Tibet.

Assuming a show dog is built to move, other factors can influence that dog’s gait in the show ring.. The handler’s body language. Presentation. Attitude. And…perhaps…synchronicity?? 

Hi Debby – Just perusing your blog this a.m. and saw we had 
simultaneous insights!  This is about the 3rd pic I’ve now seen of me 
and my dog moving together with our legs in sync.  I also started 
wondering about the cause of this (it’s lovely I think, but quite 
unintentional on my part).  My best guess at this point is maybe it 
relates to something primal in mammals??  Anyway, what a great topic 
for a photo study (people moving w/ animals, animals moving w/ 
animals, birds flying together, etc.) -Andrea