Trust is a much overlooked quality of our relationships with our dogs. Just as we seek to build trust with our dogs, then we will unwittingly undermine it. While using some tricky maneuvers may be necessary in a pinch, relying on them in the daily routine will subtlety erode the fabric of our relationships with our canine companions. Here are some pitfalls to keep an eye out for…
Employing Deception
It was this technique that my clients were using to depart from their home that first prompted me to consider trust in human/canine relationships. Because their dog Snoop (name changed to protect anonymity) would charge out the door every time they would try to leave home, they had taken to lobbing a dog biscuit far across the room as they beat a hasty departure from the apartment. Rather than training Snoop to behave in a way that they’d prefer, they exploited a deception. The result was that Snoop, soon wise to them, was becoming more aroused around the door and with their leaving.
By training Snoop to go to place, teaching him a “wait” while a tasty Kong was placed in front of him, and then releasing him to the Kong as they departed, Snoop was practicing relaxed behavior with doorway activity, while also learning to enjoy their absence, and he was mastering the art of impulse control.
Punishing Fear
Fear in dogs is very often interpreted as aggression by their humans. A leashed dog will express her fear of other dogs by making an aggressive display of lunging and barking that is anything but the bravado it looks like to us. Punishing a fear-motivated display, by giving a leash correction, for example, only serves to make the dog more fearful, as now she has reason to fear her owner’s reaction as well as the perceived danger of the other dog. And, from her perspective, the human upon whom she relies most in times of danger is intensifying the situation rather than assuaging it.
When treating fear, use a combination of desensitizing (DS: reframing the stimulus in a way that no longer elicits fear) and counter-conditioning (CC: changing the emotional response) your dog to the fearful stimulus. Check out my article Harnessing the Power of Pavlov for help in treating fear.
On Wednesday, there will be a follow-up article on more pitfalls to a trusting relationship. So give a peek back!
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