Tuesday’s Pearl: It makes no sense to punish fear. 1. Fear - TopicsExpress

Tuesday’s Pearl: It makes no sense to punish fear. 1. Fear is not voluntary. Dogs cannot turn it on and off at will. If you think that’s untrue, try increasing your heart rate by thinking about it. 2. By definition, the punishment itself must be sufficiently unpleasant (to that individual). Punishing a fearful animal will therefore increase, not decrease, its fear. 3. The nastiness of the experience is judged by the dog, not by the punisher. If the dog happens to be sensitive or ‘soft’, even verbal scolding can have negative effects. 4. Anxiety and fear are not the same thing. Anxious animals are temperamentally more susceptible to stress than non-anxious animals. Punishment of fear-based behavior can increase risk of aggression at the moment, but punishment of an anxious individual may have more insidious and long-lasting consequences. 5. We already know that historically aggressive dogs are significantly more likely to bite owners who punish them for the aggression (Herron, Shofer, Reisner 2009). Not less likely – more likely. That is not the definition of success. And, yes, most dog bites are rooted in fear or anxiety (self-defense). 6. The goal of behavior modification should be to increase confidence and decrease stress. Fearful dogs lack confidence and are already stressed, and punishing them for manifesting those things will not make them better. Fear and anxiety are at the root of many behavior problems. Some – such as urine marking or jumping without permission -- may not seem to be anxiety-related, but in fact they often are. If you’re tempted to punish a behavior but are not sure about its motivation, err on the side of ethological caution and try a different strategy. If the (unwanted) behavior is truly voluntary, use positive reinforcement of an alternative behavior. But if it’s emotional, physiological or stress-related, remove the dog from that situation (simple avoidance), or try classical conditioning methods such as desensitization and counterconditioning. “Correcting” such behavior is likely to make it worse. #vetbehavior #vetbehaviordogs #dogtraining