Remember we are more than one archetype. If you haven’t read my information about archetypes in general, please read this first.
Do you have an animal that just loves to hang out with you and the rest of the family members? Whether the others are dogs, humans, cats…doesn’t matter, the Regular Guy/Gal just loves to belong and connect with others.
In their eyes, everyone is created equal, so they like to be with and play with everyone. Fairness is a big deal since everyone is the same to them.
One of their greatest fears is to be left out, or conversely, to be forced to stand out from the rest of the crowd. You might see some of this fear manifest as anxiety if you leave them home when the entire family is going out, or as withdrawal and apparent sadness, believing they are intentionally left out. Be sure to explain to them why they are not included in outings so they understand it’s not punishment for something they’ve done wrong.
If you have a Regular Guy or Gal that fully embraces these qualities, a good job might be something that includes checking in on all of the family members or making sure everyone is included in play time. They are especially good in a group setting that has shy members as they will work to engage them; making friends comes naturally to them.
If your Regular Guy or Gal overplays this role into the shadow side, you’ll see them giving up something they want or have worked for just to be friends, such as a bone or prized toy, and are at risk of being taken advantage of. They also may bother others when they’re just trying to engage them, so if they spend too much time or effort and just end up annoying the dogs at the dog park or daycare, take away the job of engager or friend-maker. Look instead for a job in the other archetypes they display and work on playing one of those up a bit.
To help with their success in the house, make sure everything seems to be fairly distributed, which doesn’t mean the same or equal, but fair. For example, your Regular Guy might be 35 pounds and your other dog 90. At mealtime, food would be distributed as one serving for the little guy and one serving for the big guy, even though one serving may be twice as big, that is not the important part. Even though rules may be different for different family members, make them appear the same to your Regular Guy.
Good companions will be those that are not competitive, unless there are more than two – your Regular Guy won’t want to be in competition, however he can help manage others that are. Bringing in animals that need a friend is usually a good match.
If you can do some specialized training or activities with your Regular Guy, you might try pack walks, Reading with Rover type programs, or a visiting program at a senior residence.
That’s how we are, and that’s how the animals are, different archetypes emerging at different times. Pay attention to the strongest qualities that your animal shows, and remember to play up or down the different qualities as needed.
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