Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in German, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

In many natural religions and esoteric creeds the same statement can always be found: It is said that animals have been sent to us as teachers. And every human being will find the animal or will be found by the animal that is supposed to be his teacher. It is up to us humans to recognize this role of the animal in our lives.

Halo bright viewers, and welcome to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Today we present the conclusion of a two-part series on Clarissa von Reinhardt, who is one of the most highly respected and sought after dog trainers in Europe.

In 1993 she founded the animal learn canine training center in Germany’s Bavarian Alps, a serene place where dogs are taught in a gentle manner and human clients gain a greater understanding of how our four-legged friends think and perceive the world. She is also the author and co-author of several books about dogs, including “Calming Signals,” “Chase!” and the award-winning “Stress in Dogs.”

Her most recent publication, a vegan cookbook called “Vegan and Natural,” won the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Germany’s Progress Award for best vegan cookbook of 2010. Let us now hear several tips on how we can develop a more loving relationship with our canine companions.

Well, first, I would recommend some very practical things like I would not lead a dog on a collar that causes him pain and restricts him. Instead use a chest harness which puts pressure points on the ribcage, without hurting him in any way. And use a very long leash, for example, three to five meters long, so that the dog can move a bit, too, so that he can also sniff a bit to the right and left and can go a bit in front or behind his human companion without there being a tug right away.

It is such a sad image when you see dogs with a collar and they have to go through life strangled on such a short leash. Then, additionally as a practical point, I would recommend that you work as much as possible with the expressive and social behavior of dogs so that you can better understand them.

And last but not least, I would recommend developing as much of a sense of empathy, as much compassion as possible for this animal entrusted to you; simply because it shows that you really care. The animal feels it, too. And I can’t find the words at the moment to explain it correctly, but the more carefully I treat the dog, the more I will notice and the dog will also notice that I am making an effort. That is maybe the best way to express it.

When planning activities that include taking along our canine companion, Mrs. von Reinhardt suggests that we first look at life from the point of view of our dog friend. An event which is very enjoyable for us like dining out may be uncomfortable for him or her.

“Ok, this situation is such for me as a human,” and then you step aside for a moment and ask yourself: “Okay and now how is it for my dog?” So, for example, I go into a restaurant to have something to eat with friends. For me, it is very nice. It’s a pleasant atmosphere. I meet friends. We sit at the table and while we are having a leisurely meal, surely two or three hours pass.

I want to take my dog with me but I ask myself first: Is it really so great for my dog? Maybe the place is very loud? Does he have to move away every time the waiter is handing a plate over the table? Does he have enough room to lie there in peace? Do I have a somewhat fearful dog, for whom being there means much more stress than actual joy?

If I have him along …and this too is a very simple example: Everyone is sitting at the table and talking. Maybe the dog has really gotten peaceful and is sleeping, because he meanwhile has accepted: Ok, at the moment nothing is going on for me, but I am part of it. And then the people at the table are ready, they have paid and everyone gets up all at once and the dog that was in the middle of deep sleep is suddenly so (frightened) like for us when the phone rings in the middle of the night during our deep sleep. We would be startled, like: “What’s going on now?”

It’s so much easier like that: When I am sitting with my friends at a meal and I know that we will soon stand up I just pat my dog, wake him up, speak to him and say: “Ok, we are leaving soon.” So that he can wake up, understand the situation and then we all leave. And I could tell thousands and thousands and thousands of such examples.

Simply always understanding our entire day-to-day living a bit from the perspective of our dog and being considerate, that would be one of my most important recommendations.

Dogs with serious behavioral issues often come to animal learn for training. Because of her firm grasp of canine psychology, Clarissa von Reinhardt can usually resolve even the most challenging cases.

Recently, I had a woman with me who just cried because I pet her dog and said to the dog how brilliant I thought he was. And, oh, I almost feel like crying myself, because this woman previously attended seven different dog schools, seven. And all they had ever told her was: “Your dog is difficult. Your dog is a problem dog. It would be best to put him to sleep. He is beyond help. There is nothing that can be done, he is dangerous. You are responsible for him.”

And of the eight dog schools, I was the first dog trainer to pet her dog. When he came he was very reserved and very suspicious. He checked me out along the lines of, “What do you want from me again?” It was very understandable from his point of view. Thus far his experiences hadn’t been positive. And when he realized that I was holding back, and gave him time, and listened first to all the caregiver had to say about his life, he very slowly came up to me and nudged me and then he looked at me as well.

And the caregiver was very worried and said: “Oh please, please, don’t touch him, he is extremely dangerous.” But because I was able to read the dog’s body language very well, I knew that he wasn‘t dangerous at that moment. He can become dangerous in certain situations, but at that moment there with me he was not dangerous and I could pet him. And that was the moment when her tears started flowing. That was very moving. It was very beautiful.

Mrs. von Reinhardt believes that dogs, and indeed all animals, have been placed on Earth with a special mission in life including uplifting the hearts of humans.

Well, I believe that all animals can serve us as teachers. And talking about dogs in particular, they can teach us many things. For example, they can teach us patience. Dogs have so much patience with us humans. It is unbelievable how often we do things and we afterwards know exactly: Ouch, that was not a good thing to do! I’ve pulled the dog on the leash or I was impatient with him or I was in a bad mood and took it out on him when it was totally uncalled for. And in hindsight we think: “Oh dear, that was not nice, what we’ve done there.”

And dogs are willing to forgive us again and again and always come back to us and accept us again. If we could learn even just that from dogs, only that, then we would probably have the most peaceful revolution that you can imagine on this planet. Yes, it would be unbelievable what would happen then.

If we then add to that their quality of not valuing us based on appearances but of loving us whether we are pretty or not pretty, whether we are disabled or not disabled. Rather they value us simply for who we are and they forgive us so quickly for our mistakes.

Clarissa von Reinhardt loves and respects all animals and holds them in the highest regard.

And I cannot understand people, for example, who say: “Well, I love my dog and I will do anything for him and I am a great lover of animals and I’m a member of the humane society and I donate a bit of money. But when I come home at night, then I eat a ham sandwich.”

So that is someone who in the truest sense of the word doesn’t look beyond the rim of their teacup, yes. Yet, a cow, a pig, a sheep, a chicken wants to live their life exactly the same and beyond even considering the issue of taking an animal’s life just in order to eat it, which for me is not okay, there is the whole industrialization of livestock raising.

And finally, I am firmly convinced that we take on all the cellular information of the animals that suffered so terribly; just in the way that they were kept and then how they were finally killed and the terrible convoys of animals to be slaughtered. And all that the animal has experienced is manifested in the cells of their body. And I don’t want to take that suffering into myself. Those for me are very, very important reasons.

And I also don’t want that mothers have their children taken away from them, so that from the milk that was intended for the baby we later make, cheese or yogurt or something else for us to eat. And that is aside from the fact that there are more and more studies that show that it (milk) doesn’t do our bodies any good either.

The founder of animal learn’s sincere wish is to make the world a better place for our animal friends.

Out there, there are hundreds of thousands of animals, millions of animals needing help. And I cannot save all of them. But for that one dog that I can get out, for that one cat that I can save, for them it is life. And if everyone would think like that, then the misery in this world would certainly be less.

We are deeply grateful Clarissa von Reinhardt, and all others around the world like you who devote their lives to improving the welfare of our animal co-inhabitants. We wish you every success in your future noble endeavors.

For more information on animal learn and Clarissa von Reinhardt, please visit:
Books by Mrs. von Reinhardt are available at the same website

Thank you for joining us today on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News here on Supreme Master Television. May your life be filled with respect, understanding, and wisdom.