What we know we can do: We can increase or decrease behavior and we can change associations dogs have with things that scare them. Beyond that we often begin to tread into the area of speculation and come up with self-satisfying fictions about what were doing, why were doing it, and the effect it is having on a dog. Identify the behaviors you would like your dog to be able to perform. Some will be useful to us; going through doorways, coming when called, standing for a vet exam, having a leash clipped on, etc. Others should be behaviors that wed association with a happy dog; exploring, moving freely and loosely, playing, chewing, etc. Then work on getting them. The happy stuff will come when a dog feels safe and has changed emotional responses to triggers. The other skills will come with training using positive reinforcement. When we teach a dog what to do under a specific set of conditions we have given them the straightest line to success. When we behave like the compassionate people we are we assess those conditions all the time to ensure that the behavior we are seeing is free of fear and anxiety.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 12:31:19 +0000
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