If you watched the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four / Finals, you hopefully saw the ad for Android called, “Friends Furever.” Via New York ad agency, Droga5, the ad is the latest in Android’s “be together. not the same.” campaign.
From an advertising perspective, it might be the cutest ad in history. From a dog training perspective, it offers profound insight.
be together. not the same.
Lets think about that statement for a moment. As dog lovers, we, of course, desire to be with our dogs. That said, it’s profoundly easy to anthropomorphize our pets – basically seeing human traits within our dogs that actually aren’t human traits at all. When we do this, it isn’t fair to our dogs as we simply aren’t respecting them for what they are – dogs.
There are three great lessons to be learned from the cross-species relationships highlighted in the ad:
- Great cross-species relationships are collaborative, enjoyable, and mutually beneficial. There is a great deal of information out there already (such as this piece from the Association of Professional Dog Trainers) on the incorrectness of dominance theory in dog training. The Android ad shows that this is true well beyond human-dog relationships.
- Great cross-species relationships occur organically or are, at the very least, not forced. While your dog doesn’t necessarily have much of a say as to whether or not he wants to be your pet, you do have the ability to make his existence in your life as naturally enjoyable as possible. Set your dog up for enjoyment and success, and the favor will be returned.
- Great cross-species relationships are built and sustained on playful activities. It’s a shame that, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” has such a negative connotation to it. It’s a great metaphor for the importance of fun in training.