Veterinary Behavior Specialists

01/27/2024

That shock collar or lead correction may stop your dog barking and lunging but is the dog cured? Can aversive training be that magical?

Well, externally these methods can look remarkable to the untrained eye but how could physically hurting your dog really cure a behaviour that is often driven by fear or anxiety?

Physically punishing a dog only stops the behaviour in the moment, it doesn't address the emotions that are driving the behaviour. If a dog is terrified of other dogs, does choking them magically make those feelings disappear? How could it? Stopping the behaviour doesn't equate to changing how the dog feels. In reality, this training approach is behaviour suppression, not behaviour modification.

To understand behaviour suppression, imagine you have someone coming over to your home. You really need to tidy up, so you have two choices. You can either put the time in and actually sort through the clutter, organise your stuff and clean, or you can grab everything in sight and shove it into cupboards and hope your guest doesn't notice the difference.

The result may appear the same to those that don't know what to look for, but the more you cram into each cupboard, the more pressure there is on the doors. Eventually those doors burst open and the house is more untidy than it was when you started. Now your guest can see that you didn't really clean.

This is exactly what happens with behaviour suppression. Using corrections and aversives is a quick fix that removes unwanted behaviour from the naked eye, whilst pushing the dogs emotions down beneath the surface. The more the emotions are suppressed, the closer the dog gets to breaking point and when they finally do break, the fallout is so much worse.

Therefore, we can't successfully and ethically change a dog's behaviour without addressing the emotions that are driving them. True behaviour modification takes time and patience, but what is the result?

Long term positive change to the dog's emotional responses, behaviour and welfare, which should always be the goal of dog training. - Holly Leake

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01/20/2024

Selecting a competent dog trainer requires research. Your dog is worth the effort to find a qualified, competent trainer.

It's hard as a consumer to find a qualified, competent behavior consultant or trainer. It's buyer beware, because we are an unregulated industry so there's no real standards or even minimum qualifications to look for. My post this week gives some insight on what some of the credentials mean and what to look for, but here are some additional things to look for or do when you're vetting someone you're considering hiring.

More info on my post this week, in case you missed it!

https://rescuedbytraining.com/2024/01/15/dog-profession-titles/

01/15/2024

Why punishment “works” Thanks https://www.facebook.com/rplusdogsbehaviour/

12/19/2023

Be especially aware of dog:child interactions this holiday season.
There is so much chaos in the home with extra guests and activities that often dogs and children are at their maximum overload. Let's get through the holidays safely.

https://www.thinkdog.nz/post/10-tips-to-keep-children-safe-around-dogs?fbclid=IwAR0XUvzp_lo9e6VZPvEVg_Xcf1pyeZp6BBiPWPzvNKeymorv3CiUfreiYeY

No matter how well trained or 'good' you genuinely think your dog is, don't risk it. They are dogs. And dogs have their off days too.