This 2009 article from the Daily Telegraph is a nice, quick little overview of why copying the methods of “TV dog trainers” (which is a euphemism if ever I read one) can be harmful.
Generally in life, you get what you give. I don’t believe in karma as a mystical, paranormal or other universe-driven force; I think it’s much more simple. If you treat people with respect and kindness, they’ll like you more and be nice to you. If someone is rude or aggressive toward you, particularly in your first encounter, you’re much more likely to respond in kind. It’s not necessarily a conscious thing – in many cases, it’s more of an instant, emotional response. I don’t think that dogs treated kindly by their owners are any nicer than those that aren’t. But responding to what looks like ‘bad behaviour’ with punishment can be a really, really bad idea.
Responding to what looks like an “aggressive” dog with aggressive tactics is a recipe for disaster. Dogs can behave aggressively for numerous reasons, and most people aren’t that good at reading and understanding them. If your dog snaps or lashes out, there’s a good chance that it’s because he’s scared or feels threatened by something. That’s not the case in all situations of course, but I guarantee that it’s the case in more situations than most people realise. If your dog is scared and snaps, lunges or growls, and you hit or yell at him in response, you’re not teaching him that snapping, lunging or growling are wrong. You might be teaching him that being scared is going to get him yelled at, but how is that helping to address your dog’s fear? You can’t cure fear by punishing it. (And if you think you can, you’re not the kind of person I ever want anywhere near my dogs.) What you’re more likely to be doing is confusing your dog, and exacerbating his fear and uncertainty.
Resources
If you have a fearful dog – whether they’re scared of people, dogs, balloons, statues, or anything else - a great resource is the little book(let) The Cautious Canine, by Patricia McConnell. It’s about 40 pages long, and is a brilliant insight into fear and anxiety and how to help your dog to overcome it using ‘counter-conditioning’. It’s about $6, so there’s really no excuse and you’ll thank me for it.
If you’d like to learn more about dog body language and how better to communicate with and understand your dog, Patricia McConnell’s book For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend. (I wish it didn’t have such a touchy feely subject, I was embarrassed reading it in public.. but it’s really very good!)
Another suggestion is On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas.
And on another note
For the last 6 weeks we have been fostering a gorgeous little dog with a rather unfortunate past. He’s just perfect and I’m going to be devastated when he is adopted, but he has taught me a lot. Including how forgiving dogs can be when any human in their situation would be dead, homicidal (or in jail) or at the very least, very hateful. Fostering him has also alerted me to how few people know what fostering is, and that you can actually DO it! That will be the subject of my next post – all about fostering, and whether it’s something that you could do.
In the mean time, here’s a picture of our little foster boy, and one of him and my girls Mimi and Maggie at the beach.
