First Collar Training - Persona

A persona is the face of you, what people see as you express yourself. In the everyday world we present different faces to people, according to the circumstances we are in. We have a work self, a sexy self, a friend self, and even a child self. We are rarely entirely open and exposed as our complete whole selves to anyone. Early on in life as humans we learn to craft expressions to get what we want, and to get along socially with others. As a pup you will adjust to make a persona to get along in the role of pup. It's natural to hold back parts of ourselves from others to be private. So when you come to human pup play, you will find it easy to keep this passion private. 

As a human you have had decades to craft a self, in fact to craft multiple selves. That experience makes creating a "pup self" crafting a new persona, a self that shows what you want it to show. However, as you have begun to learn from other First Collar lessons such as FCT Territory and FCT Scent, the persona you will be making as a pup is often outside the human standards of behaviour. There will be new avenues of expression, not just in voice but in body language as well. 

We will begin with some creative visualisation when describing your emerging pup self.

Imagine it is the dog inside you. You, the human, always hold that dog in your arms.

At this stage you certainly can't express your pup self in a way that doesn't involve your humanity.

So visualise yourself as cradling that young dog, that is your pup self, as a puppy in your arms.

Hold your puppy up and let him rest on your shoulder so he looks backward whilst you as a human are facing away and not communicating. That's how the two of you are to be forged this early stage.

You control your puppy self and protect him as you learn your lessons in your First Collar Training, whilst you as a man, face away and let him look and explore. Imagine your puppy self as being loved and cared for by you. 

Over the early training session I will discuss with you choosing a name for your pup self. You pup name is chosen collaboratively between your owner and you. It is important to have a distinct name that resonates with us both emotionally. But the name alone is not enough to form your pup self. You must visualise a nascent persona, a puppy you hold.