In dog training, the immediate result is often synonymous with success.
We live in a world of appearances and judgments where things must be done quickly and always well.
The dog (or any other living being, human or animal) has feelings and emotions. This means that the pace of learning will depend largely on him.
I’ve always sucked at science. Even if some teachers managed to make me feel like a less than nothing in front of a calculation sheet, it has never been my cup of tea, you will understand. The dog: it’s all the same, he has the right to be more or less at ease depending on the discipline and the exercise required.
The pressure we put on ourselves for fear of appearing “lame”, “judged”, “uncontrolled”, “incompetent” is enormous. And this pressure may be reflected on the dog who did not ask for anything.
THE IMMEDIATE RESULT IN DOG TRAINING : UTOPIA OR DANGEROUS REALITY ?
INHIBITION OR ACQUIRED IMPOTENCE IN DOGS
In the belief of many, the fact that the dog has no reaction at all is a sign of success, that the problem has been solved.
I have several phobias, which I won’t mention, because I don’t want people to send me simple pictures that would trigger anxiety attacks.
So imagine if I have to face my biggest fear? How will I react? I might cry, call for help and be in intense panic.
If I don’t get an answer, I might end up doing nothing because my calls for help will have been in vain…
I won’t react anymore, but my fear will be present, as violent as ever.
This is called immersion.
“Put your dog in the car to eat so he gets used to it.”
“Take him downtown if he’s afraid of humans.”
“Put him in the middle of 10 dogs if he’s aggressive.”
And we wait for him to stop reacting. At all.
It is a technique like any other, but it is extremely violent psychologically in my eyes because the dog will surely howl, urinate on itself, pull, bite, but in vain. And he will stop reacting because he is physically/mentally tired, and because he doesn’t respond to his calls for help. Problem solved? In appearance, yes. But deep down? No.
THE IMMEDIATE RESULT IN DOG TRAINING : UTOPIA OR DANGEROUS REALITY ?
ACQUIRED DISTRESS IN DOGS
He will be in acquired distress, he stops physically fighting, the organism gives up, like a depression, the dog does not think anymore, does not react anymore. He is absent, and it is very practical because he does not say anything more.
“The acquired helplessness put forward in Seligman’s experiment: Seligman tried his experiment on dogs that had previously been placed in cages whose floor could emit electric shocks.
One of these cages had a lever that had to be operated to allow the opening of the cage and the second cage also had a lever, but which did not allow any opening.
The dog placed in the cage where there was no possibility for him to get out would finally lie down and accept his fate.
Then, the dogs were placed in a second cage where a small wall separated two parts, one of which was made of a floor that emitted electric shocks and the other was not.
Seligman then noticed that the dog that had previously managed to have an action to get out of the first situation had the behavior of jumping to the other side of the cage and getting to safety. While the other dog in the same environment did not take any action whatsoever and therefore remained prostrate, suffering the shock.
This is how Seligman explained that learned helplessness corresponds to the inability of an individual to escape from an aversive situation even when he has the possibility to do so. And this is how coercive methods can cause.” Written by Chloe Fesch.
The risk, beyond the questionable ethics if you want the well being of your dog, is that the dog will go beyond this depressive state after a while and… the behavior will be worsened because the previous experiences will have been terrible for him.
THE IMMEDIATE RESULT IN DOG TRAINING : UTOPIA OR DANGEROUS REALITY ?
HOW TO REACT AND HOW TO WORK IF YOU WANT YOUR DOG TO BE WELL
The dog will have 3 reactions to fear/stress:
– Freeze: to freeze
– Flight : to flee
– Fight : To fight
It’s all about instinct.
The dog does not have the notion of reflection when he is in this state.
It is in front of this behavior that we will put nice labels on Titou:
– He is aggressive if he attacks
– It is stupid if it does not move
– He has understood and the education is successful if he does not react anymore
I don’t work like that. I have too much empathy and respect for that.
So we’ll briefly discuss the concept of comfort zones during a workout.
Imagine 3 color zones: green, orange and red. The ideal is to work in the green zone, bordering on orange.
In a zone where the dog is slightly uncomfortable but able to be connected, and therefore able to work to get to or stay in its green comfort zone.
The dog will then be able to learn, gain confidence in its environment, in itself and in its owner, and work can progress more quickly and efficiently.
In red, the brain is completely blocked and the dog can’t do anything because he is in hyper vigilance, too stressed, etc…
It is not a failure if it happens occasionally!
It’s up to us to lower our standards to stay on track for success.
At school, if you never succeeded in an exercise and on top of that you were scolded, you lost confidence in yourself, in your teacher, you were frustrated and felt bad about yourself? And it didn’t make you want to do it again the next day.
The dog has exactly the same functioning. We might as well work together by encouraging and motivating him rather than the other way around!
Of course, the results will take longer, but they will be more stable.
Instead of focusing on the ever faster and perfect result, wouldn’t it be better to observe the road travelled and the progress already made?
