4.9

For two years I've been hands-on taking care of horses in a volunteer position. For eleven years I've had a loud high-strung dog in my family (RIP Dexter). For over a year I've had a mellow blind dog in my family (welcome Meelo). Interwoven in that time, I've spent seven years self-studying, seeking knowledge about animal psychology, mainly horses but also branching out into dogs and cats. Obviously they are all different, but there is enough overlap to where I know how frustrating it is to these animals when humans ignore their body language and don't know how to accommodate their instincts and deeply-entrenched learned reflexes, whatever those might be. Brute-forcing authority on these magnificent animals makes for miserable animals, instead I know how to communicate by watching their body language and adapting my body language to theirs. With the communication thus described and knowledge of proper care and an environment set up to meet the animal's needs, thus I can earn an animal's respect, training the animal and adjusting the environment to live harmoniously with humans.