09/01/2025
Yes!! One well timed correction could be the difference between freedom and a lifetime of management. What this ISN'T saying is that correcting a dog is the only piece of the puzzle.
It's not.
It's 1 piece out of 1000. You still need to teach the dog the opposite or preferred behaviour. You still need to build a bond, a system of communication, find appropriate outlets that are both psychologically and biologically fulfilling to the Dog.
There is more to the behaviour mod puzzle than just correcting a dog, but it can be an integral piece.
You’ve probably heard this one before: “Don’t use prongs or e-collars - they raise your dog’s cortisol levels!”
Sounds scary, right? Like you’re frying your dog’s brain with stress hormones the second you clip a leash on.
And you know what? They’re right.
Cortisol does go up.
Just a quick run down what cortisol is:
Cortisol is a stress hormone, but not all stress is bad. It rises during excitement, arousal, learning, exercise, even while playing fetch.
The anti-tool folk like to say that: Elevated cortisol = trauma. But really, it just means the body is responding to stimulation.
Here’s the reality check: cortisol goes up for about a million different reasons.
👉When your dog plays fetch? Cortisol goes up.
👉When they’re doing agility? Cortisol goes up.
👉 When they learn something new? Cortisol goes up.
👉Hell, even when you walk out the front door, cortisol goes up.
👉Your dog gets the zoomies? Yep. Cortisol spike.
Pretending cortisol spikes = abuse is either ignorance or fearmongering.
So let’s be real - cortisol is not the enemy. It’s just the body’s way of saying, “Hey, something’s happening, pay attention.”
The actual question should be:
👉 Is this stress temporary and productive, leading to clarity and learning… or is it long-term and damaging?
Because here’s what I see all the time:
✅ A dog gets one clear, well-timed correction → cortisol blips for a moment → the dog relaxes because the boundary finally makes sense.
✅ Compare that to months (or years) of force-free “try this game, try this enrichment, try this treat” while the dog keeps spiraling in frustration. That’s not a cortisol spike… that’s a cortisol lifestyle.
One well-timed correction might cause a momentary spike, but so does withholding a treat, or putting on a leash, or stepping into a vet clinic. What’s more harmful is keeping a dog in a long-term state of frustration, confusion, or lack of clarity.
Just as an example that I read on Sean Oshea’s page the other day - someone said that they had come so far with their dog fully force free trained. The dog lives 24/7 in a muzzle though but hey, she did get her Canine Good Citizen certificate… but isn’t able to navigate life with and around other dogs after YEARS of training.
How is that good enough?
Michael Shikashio mentioned himself on an interview with the Canine Paradigm (episode 176) that he took 80 SESSIONS to work with a dog. EIGHTY!!
I don’t know if he charges anything like I do and if he didn’t give a discount that’s $12000 on one dog with barely any progress worth bragging about.
Yes, he said, but it was a day training type of program so thats different.
Even then with a difficult dog where I do day training with I rarely go over 20 sessions.
Sorry if you’re working with a dog 1:1 over 80 sessions without the owner present over the time of a year that dog should be able to be taken everywhere and anywhere with you as the professional.
If we’re talking ethics, which one is actually kinder? A quick, clear answer that lowers stress long-term, or dragging a dog through endless sessions of confusion while calling it “fear-free”?
Keeping a dog in months (or years) of “purely positive” training that never actually fixes the problem and instead focuses a lot on management and avoidance only.. That’s long-term stress. That’s a dog living with a constantly elevated baseline of frustration and anxiety.
One well-timed correction might cause a momentary spike… but it resolves the behavior fast, brings clarity, and lowers stress in the long run.
So which is actually more humane?
The goal of training isn’t to keep cortisol at zero (that’s impossible). It’s to stop dogs from living in prolonged stress by giving them rules, boundaries, and answers.
Shouldn’t we be measuring progress and well-being, not just a hormone that spikes during literally everything?
The goal of training isn’t to keep cortisol at zero (that’s impossible). It’s to prevent dogs from living in prolonged stress by giving them clarity and answers.
