Language
The single biggest issue with
dogs no matter the topic is the language that is used to describe the dog’s “state
of being”. Be it physical, or the emotional state, a human will attach a term,
a phrase, or a feeling to the dog and the event. Often the two are conflated,
such as the overly analyzed “hackles up equals aggression” hypothesis, which is
actually sign of adrenaline, not “aggression”. Though a dog may raise its
hackles prior to aggression or during aggression, it is not a determinant of
aggression.
One observer deduces the dog
has “fear” in play situations, where as another’s determinations are “the dogs
are fine”, in dog play. What determines the actual behaviors in play are Meta signals; accurate history and how well
humans shape the play into favorable results; are all more reliable than
flooding the dogs with play stimulation then punishing or scolding to tamp down
the play. One observers “aggression” is another’s
“frustration”. Determinations of
“aggression” are the dog’s bite history and some context.
The opinion biased deductions
go on and on, until someone that has no overly biased views obtains an accurate
history and observes the dog and then issues some quantifiable data to
determine the dog’s “state” in the context the behavior is occurring. That is
how it is done legitimately. The lucky people and dogs get this assessment; the
unlucky dogs get lots of nebulous double speak.
Much of the interpretations
have to do with the observer’s biases and knowledge base. Herein lie the
problem with gathering info on dogs, anyone can say anything and many times the
observers have a preconceived nebulous “understanding” of dogs based on the
persons own self-aggrandized, self appointed “gifted with dogs” accolades. Or
they are simply attaching the most popular phrase and the most ascribed
terminology to dogs that are in similar “states” that they themselves are
simply familiar with yet hardly understands the terminology.
Take the term “dominant”; it
is not a behavior; it is a relationship parameter based largely on access to
resources. Yet “dominance” gets used for
all manner of behaviors that the human cannot explain or condition the dog out
of. It has become a panacea for anything that the dog displays that people do
not want or like.
The hypothesis of dominance
motivated aggression towards humans has been debunked by many people of extreme
accreditation. The most thorough debunking of the dominance directed aggression
towards humans has been by Tortora in 1983. His research postulated that the
aggression towards humans was motivated by “escape and avoidance” and “not from
a dominate subordinate” relationship, or competition related motivation.
It is interesting to note
that it is the self appointed “specialists” that seem to cling to their false
narratives the most. Even in the face of factual data and proven scientific
findings that are accepted across the board in all the main scientific
disciplines, as quantifiable evidence of said claims. The “I am gifted with
dogs and have been so for X number of years” are by far the most steadfast in
their fictional beliefs.
Let’s take the word discipline. This is often used as a
blanket statement to defend or provide a reason for harsh treatment, usually it
goes something like this, “the dog needs
discipline, which is why we shock, choke, kick, hit, yell, threaten or coerce”.
This is then supported by the word “structure”.
Which means that the human will do these fear and pain based punishers as a matter of course for any behavior in any
context that the human desires the dog to exhibit impulse control.
Remember that last sentence
about “impulse control”. It’ll be handy later on.
These so called experts with
a “gift” do this hash punishment in the name of discipline? Interesting
perspective.
The definitions of discipline
do indeed include the terms “punishment inflicted by way of corrections and
training”. In addition the definition
also includes the terms “behavior in accord with the rules of conduct, maintained
by control”.
The definitions includes “learning
thorough adversity”, it does not use the words fear or pain, not once. It does
not even allude to fear and pain, not one time. However pain and fear is what
some people will read into the definitions of discipline. It is interesting to
note that in legit non force behavior modification as well as in the animals
view of the environment, control by
way of corrections is also a major
component, again no fear and pain are alluded to here. Humans control access to
resources and dogs want to control the environment so they are receiving “safe
and neutral signal form stimuli. Animals are looking to avoid pain and fear.
On the surface, this discussion
over words and phrases, may seem innocuous, however, consider who is doling out
the punishment and or maintaining the control. Do they even have rules or a
training criterion? Is it just a nebulous directive for the dog to stat “calm”
or “be submissive”? Remember, “calm” and
“submissive” are not behaviors, those are human constructs based on the humans
biases and knowledge base. Many dogs that are labeled “calm & submissive”
are also dogs that are lip licking, stress yawning, lowering their heads when
people approach, looking alert at the horizon and not attending to scents on
the ground, so the terminology may or not match up with the reality, again
depends on the observers knowledge base and biases.
“Discipline” has many of its
meanings derived from military contexts. If that is your thing then I suppose
it is useful to frame your interactions with dogs around the construct of
leader and subordinate. It fits nicely into the limited mind that lacks the
ability to think past archaic ways when dogs were not as understood, behavior
was not as understood as in todays modern world.
Indeed a human can obtain
behavior from dogs by using fear and pain based approaches, no one is arguing
that. Nerve endings are very real in dogs. They are connected to every inch of
the surface of the dogs skin. They are real. They cause the dog to feel pain,
thus develop a fear and thus the “trainer” hopefully achieves impulse control.
That is the how fear and pain based conditioning works. Ironically punishment
can be doled out without fear and pain. That we’ll see is where dogs learn
about impulse control and not simply learn to “survive the event” by shutting
down.
Stress
When stress is issued to dogs
whether it is being subjected to fear and pain by way of humans implementing
harsh methods, or simply the threat of it, even the environment that supplies
stress, a shelter for example, the body and the brain will be affected. Those
effects will cause cognitive, emotional and physical damage to the dog.
These devices are a constant
reminder to the dog that at any second they might be issued a form of pain. The
dogs that learn fast get the least amount of choke or shock, the dogs that do
not for what ever reason “get it”, are repeatedly shocked or choked or what
ever the fear and pain based punishment is. When they are riddled with fear and
lash out they are euthanized or shocked into a catatonic state and then the pain
“trainer” feels they have “succeeded”.
The problem is that actual
fear and pain or even a perceived threat is stressful. Stress will cause all
manner of internal problems for dogs and humans.
Remember I mentioned impulse control and how that is what the pain trainer is fast tracking towards? Here are some experts in the field of behavior and biology that actually know what they are doing when it comes to stress related fallouts in animals.
Dr. Bruce McEwen has discovered in his research that chronic acute stress will cause
the brain to “loose the ability to
remember things”. He goes on to state that chronic stress will “change brain circuitry” and in essence “stress makes you stupid” as he puts it.
Dr. Robert Sapolsky of Stanford University studied the stress in monkeys and found through
brain scans, that chronic stress supplied daily by the environment from other
monkeys caused the brain to atrophy and cause a smaller development of the
hippocampus. This is the area of the brain responsible for long term memory,
the excitation or inhibition of behavior and regulates the autonomic nervous
system which deals with stress related bodily functions, heart rate, bold
pressure etc…Now think about the dogs that deal with chronic stress from prong
and shock collars or being flipped over or hit? Are they “calm &
submissive” or perhaps they are simply shut down due to brain damage?
When an animal has chronic
stress, regardless of where the stress is coming from, what occurs is the
following: a lack of neuron receptor
binding occurs due to brain shrinkage from stress and that means less dopamine
and that equates to less happy dogs, more shut down dogs and thus the “calm
and submissive” hypothesis derived from “discipline”, is largely a result from
over loading the dogs with fear and pain - stress to a point of brain damage
and causing learning disabilities.
It has also been recorded
through FMRI scans that repeated stress will cause plaque to build up on the
walls of the heart as well as cause lesions in the brain. Stress can lead to
tumors on the internal organs and wreck immune systems.
Dr. Carol Shively also studied monkeys that had been subjected to chronic stress and
discovered that the monkey’s that had the most stress also had severe build up
of plaque on their arteries.
This results in the heart
getting less blood. In essence this is how a heart attack and heart disease
occur. The artery plaque build up, brought on by stress, she contends, “affects
the whole immune system”.
These are not opinions of
mine. As Dr. Shively states, “this is not
an abstract concept”. These are verifiable and factual statements recorded
in peer reviewed medical and scientific journals. This is not fiction.
Chronic fear and stress over
time may produce lesions on an animals brain, thus they may either have an
overly generalized sense of fear and aggression and lash out more and more, or
shut down and freeze in a state of learned helplessness.
It has been verified that
stress actually shrinks the brain and impedes its ability to learn information,
and learn new information specifically. It has been verified that stress can
cause heart disease and heart failure. Perhaps these will sway some people from
using fear and pain based methods that cause undue stress?
There are some other
interesting cognitive functions at play for dogs when they are learning and
formulating associations about their environments.
The amygdala,
which is a regulator of fear, is also responsible for memory. Seeing as the
amygdala is primarily processing generalized
and non-specific fears, it would behoove the dog handler and trainer to
build a sound amygdaloidal structure as not to atrophy that area or cause
lesions. One possible explanation for a dog that has seeming no ability to
regulate fear is that they have amygdaloidal damage.
The hippocampus has a number of major functions in relation to stress
regulation. One aspect to consider is that the hippocampus is a memory indexer. The hippocampus is also where long-term
memory, specific memory and context is stored.
When the hippocampus has been
damaged, the dog has trouble processing memories, long term memories to be
specific, it may only be able to process the ones that signal to shut down or
mainly trigger aggressive displays, or anxiety displays or frustration displays.
The hippocampus may not be able to regulate the cortisol needed for impulse
control.
When positive reward based
training and kind consequences are the approach to training and behavior
issues, the opposite occurs, and the dog learns new information by way of new
sequences taught not forced or coerced, and dogs brains actually expand and
gain more neurological plasticity.
Sadly, the uneducated
“trainer” blames the dog for being “dominant”, or “stubborn” or blames the
breeder for “genes”, or they make up some fiction about “leadership” and
“energy”. No matter the excuse, the real help is not being doled out and that
is the tragedy. This gap in the
education of dog professionals is largely due to a massive problem in education for dog training professionals,
and specifically veterinarians.
Once this is widely known, or
even if there is no knowledge of these potential damaging occurrences in brain
function and formation, and the risk of heart disease, from fear and pain, why
would anyone risk doing it?
The main reason these fear
and pain based “trainers” are doing what they do is they are not educated
properly, Vets are busy being Vets and they also are not being educated in
behavior, and masses are not educated enough. It is a cascade of failures.
Many so called dog trainers are
operating from a construct where ego and hubris are the main motivations for
their “work” with dogs. Or it is a cultural hold over that has been handed down
through myth and fabrications. Many professionals “think” they “know” based on their
own “evaluations”, however some of these so-called “experts” lack even the most
basic introductory knowledge of how behavior works and what the ethological
implications of behavior are for dogs.
Remember environment has more
of an influence than genes, and humans make up a large part of all
environmental stimuli for dogs. Humans are the variable that matters most in
the outcome. Just about all of every environment has humans attached in the
stimulus package of the context.
For far too many “trainers”,
it is akin to having a bricklayer perform open-heart surgery. Sure they have a
steady hand and they want to do a good job, but they have no real knowledge,
other than they have a heart and it has been working “fine for over “40 years”.
Many people are out here professing
their skills with dogs and spouting their “knowledge” about dogs and causing
dogs fear and pain under the guise of “discipline” and then walking away from
it when it does not “work out” for them.
Then those dogs that are deemed “hard
cases” are the ones where they make up even more nonsense to explain away their
lack of actual ability to help the dog.
This fear and pain
“methodology” disguised in the definitions of “discipline” or whatever the buzzword
is this week are certainty not derived from any form of scientific inquiry or
study. These euphemisms are smoke screens and act as subterfuges for people
looking for real legitimate information on dogs and how to train or perform
behavior modification.
I have never once read, watched
or met any one that has used fear and pain based approaches with dogs that had
a criterion and or a systematic and quantifiable procedure for using the shock
or choke collar. Nope. They just do it when they are pissed, stressed, or have
not actually paid any proper attention to the building antecedents in the
context. Those are the signs that the dog is being influenced by something.
These so called gifted with dogs types just implement fear and pain on the dog
at will, when ever for what ever.
Here is what it is happening
in most cases with people that use fear, pain and intimidation with dogs.
The human decides they want
the dog to stop doing a set of behaviors. They do not take into account the context,
distance or duration of the stimulus causing the dog to behave in the manner it
is behaving in.
They forgo any observations
of the antecedents and the mitigation of them by way of legitimate conditioning
or management, i.e. training and handling of the dog to orchestrate distances
amenable to reduce behaviors. Thus teaching the dog, not simply stopping the
dog.
They wait for the dog to be
flooded or met with the stimuli at a level that will cause the dog to exhibit
behaviors they want decreased or eradicated, then at the moment of peak
environmental stimulation they apply the aversive, fear and or pain based
punisher. In essence they have the dog rehearsing
two sets of responses they no one would want,
1 - the rehearsal of the behavior they want decreased
and 2 - the emotional response of fear and the resulting associations.
Behavior that is rehearsed
becomes stronger. Why rehearse unwanted behavior? Why cause a dog to feel fear
or be flooded with a stimulus that causes the dog stress? Why risk a
generalized negative association to the context, sloppy at best abuse at worst.
In essence pain trainers are many
times simply flooding and punishing. Then hoping that the dog self regulates
the event, they tout that they are training impulse
control, and that they have a “gift” or “skills”. However reality dictates,
due to spontaneous recovery, many dogs may have fear outside the context they
were shocked or choked in.
These pain “trainers” hope
the dog does not develop any residual fallout such as increased fear, increased
aggression or any other anxiety phobias related to that context. However they
don’t know which dogs will be better equipped to handle the harsh aversive
approaches.
These pain trainers also do
not have any idea what the stress related signal of dogs are, or do not care,
as in may cases they tout how “calm” the dog is yet forgo detailing any signs
of stress.
What they are doing is
stopping the dog; not teaching the dog. What they do is flood the dog with glucocorticoids and cross fingers. Extremely
sloppy “training” at best, at worst it is torturous abuse founded on fictional
notions.
Bio Speed Limits
Dogs make three
determinations when met with a change in their environment, safe, unsafe or neutral.
Remember dogs generalize fear very well.
It is why they all make such great watchdogs and we love them for their alert
sensibility. This determination of safe, unsafe or neutral is done by way of
the amygdala for general fears and by the hippocampus for context, facts and
events. It is why a healthy dog will bark when you come home, and be fearful
when they cannot see you yet, then once they realize the human is their
friendly companion they wag their tail and become happy.
The vast majority of the
changes that dogs determine as “unsafe” are actually safe. The way a human conditions the dog by way of “discipline” i.e. fear & pain
based approaches, ends up confirming to the dog that indeed that stimulus does
predict fear and pain issued from the handler of the dog. The dog may or may
not associate it to the handler, after all that generalization of fear is often
a very slippery. The non-specific slope of anxiety and stress for the dog that
has been human delivered by way of threats or violence just may be associated
to people in general. There are many variables when modifying behavior.
Let’s consider this. What if
the stimuli that the dog was startled by or perhaps was interested in checking
out were a dog or person or for that matter a cat the dog wanted to chase?
All of the people I work with
want their dogs to like other dogs, and people, and cats or at the very least
tolerate them and not have major issues. The predictive value of these forms of
stimuli should be safe and or at the very least in terms of cats; shaped into a sequence that teaches the dog
impulse control by way of learning based on natural stalking behavior, not
simply shutting the dog down and inducing stress.
If the dog that is barking today at other dogs is given too much and even one time is “too much” fear and pain based “training”, or “discipline”, tomorrow that same dog could wind up being fearful of dogs, or humans, or if that cat they wanted to chase is the cause for the them being challenging, and they get shocked or choked or issued some form of harsh punishment, they may not want to chase cats but they also may have some stress related illness when that “discipline” is being issued over & over to get that “calm” dog.
If the dog that is barking today at other dogs is given too much and even one time is “too much” fear and pain based “training”, or “discipline”, tomorrow that same dog could wind up being fearful of dogs, or humans, or if that cat they wanted to chase is the cause for the them being challenging, and they get shocked or choked or issued some form of harsh punishment, they may not want to chase cats but they also may have some stress related illness when that “discipline” is being issued over & over to get that “calm” dog.
The dog may also develop a
general fear of being on leash or in the back yard if they are shocked for cat
chasing. It happens. Indeed you may just end up causing a lesion on a dog’s
brain because the shock was one too many, and that is how they are “trained”
into being calm and submissive, by shrinking their brains ability to properly
process stimuli.
If that is what you call
“training” and if that is what you call “love” then you are operating on a
whole different level of human consciousness, and it’s one I am not remotely
interested I partaking in other than making people aware of what is actually
occurring.
My mind, and the minds of
many other legitimate dog trainers and behaviorists move forward and upward,
and when we do need to operate at bio speed, at the level of the animals and
act as an intermediary to teach dogs, we remember one simple thing all animals
are wired to process information as safe,
unsafe and neutral. That is how bonds are truly built by truly
understanding the behavior of the being you are connected to.
Give dogs some credit
Animals are keenly aware we
are bipeds and we have thumbs, and that gives us access to reinforcements that
they would other wise not have or have to work very hard to obtain. In the case
of negative reinforcements, the removal of access, the creating of distance,
animals are also aware we will make those choices for them.
In essence humans have all
the power and to abuse the dog based on a false notion that they are trying to
“disobey on purpose” is ridiculous. It is a fabrication constructed for the
insecure and the intellectually weak minded.
Dogs do not have the same
amount of serial memory as humans, so they are not capable of stubbornness and
spitefulness, or any other construct that humans have for competition. Dogs are
keenly aware of what is reinforcing and what is punishing or what is fearful,
to them, based on their innate knowledge of survival.
Humans mainly influence dogs as we make most of, if not all of their choices or
choices that influence their choices. This is known as imprinting. Humans, all
humans cast some form of an imprint on the dog.
Dogs have long-term memory, it occurs mainly in the hippocampus. Long-term memory is the by-product of conditioning. This is a fact. This is why dogs learn to go to the back door and scratch for a potty break, or get the leash, even if you never “trained ” it. This long term memory encoding is not fiction, and when part of the brain is conditioned with positive reinforcement and safe punishments, or kind consequences, and not filled with lesions and fear related memories that are causing the dog to have an overly generalized sense of fear, the dog becomes well trained and stays sound. That is far better than fearful, shut down and or aggressive.
Dogs have long-term memory, it occurs mainly in the hippocampus. Long-term memory is the by-product of conditioning. This is a fact. This is why dogs learn to go to the back door and scratch for a potty break, or get the leash, even if you never “trained ” it. This long term memory encoding is not fiction, and when part of the brain is conditioned with positive reinforcement and safe punishments, or kind consequences, and not filled with lesions and fear related memories that are causing the dog to have an overly generalized sense of fear, the dog becomes well trained and stays sound. That is far better than fearful, shut down and or aggressive.
The dog that is conditioned
to feel safe more so than not safe, over time that dog does truly better, not
because they are not responding due to fear; but because they are responding in
a manner that has been conditioned by the human so the dog learns and feels
better or even elated about the event, then and only then are dogs are actually
communicating with us, not shutting down due to the threat of fear and pain.
Using fear and pain or the treat of it is not communication; that is coercion
and servitude, not cooperation.
When you use shock and choke
and use harsh physical violence on dogs you are on a slippery slope that will
lead the dog down a dark road of misery in either their emotional or physical
states, probably both, as they are related and cannot be disconnected.
These nebulous phrases such
as “calm and submissive” or “aggressive and dominant” are not assessments of contexts
and the resulting behaviors that occur when stimuli has been introduced to the
dog. These phrases are human constructs that look to explain how humans feel
many times, and the human many times is wrong or half right, usually they are
not 100% accurate.
“Discipline” is not meant to
be harmful or painful it is meant to be something that connotes corrections and
learning in a consistent manner. The definition says nothing about choking,
shocking, intimidation or threats. When people give dogs some credit and
actually learn how to train without fear and pain, then and only then is the
relationship based on cooperation and humans are helping dogs not merely having
dogs.
An example of two perspectives
Fictional Observation – The dog is
aggressive around kids. He will bark and pull on leash, and not listen to any
training cues. I am worried for my safety and fearful he will bite someone or
me.
Fictional Assessment – This dog is dominating and aggressive and needs discipline. This
will require the dog to be on a prong collar to start and if there is no change
in the dogs temperament a shock collar will need to be used as stimulation to
stop the behavior of barking and lunging. This will teach the dog to obey the
hander.
Factual Observation – The dog is reacting by way of barking and pulling to investigate when
kids in the age range of 5 – 12 are running
and screaming at a distance of no
less than 50 feet. The dog has met kids in this age range and done well as long
as the dog is on a shortened leash no more than 1 foot in length, and the kids are instructed not to act in an
excited manner. The reactivity is mainly when the dog is on leash and the kids
appear suddenly. When there is time to expose the kids to the dog, counter
conditioning is easily achieved.
Factual Assessment – The dog’s history shows no bites over a three-year period with
interaction between 100’s of people and dozens of dogs of all ages and sizes.
Dog is now age 4 years. The dog is to be walked in areas where there will be no
sudden appearances by running screaming kids. Walk dog in open areas for at
least 14 days where sight lines and stimuli will be amenable to counter
conditioning. There should be proactive conditioning sessions set up with known
kids that appear suddenly at a distance of no less than 100 feet. No running
and screaming in the first part of the conditioning.
There will be intermittent
exposure of the child walking with an adult at 100 feet away.
The dog will be marked (clicked)
with the word “YES” for simply orienting to the child and adult stimulus
package, and then dog is issued a high value food reward. Any over threshold
responses that include barking, pulling or sudden lunging will result in
distance given and use of environmental blocking.
This is to be repeated until
the dog is noticing the child and jumping the “YES” marker. This will create a
one to one association, to kids appearing, and in time as long as the handler
has been staying aware of the environment and managing the dog out of any
scenarios that could potentially flood the dog with child stimuli, and have
them reacting by way of barking and lunging etc…the dog should over time
develop a conditioned emotional response to children, even running kids could
predict a high value food reward.
Orchestrated interactions with known children under the supervision of their parents or guardians will also help the dog have better associations towards children.
The pain trainer may achieve a
“dog looks at handler and not kids”, behavior, but they achieve it by way of
the dog now having the kids predict the fear and pain administered by the choke
or shock collar.
The dog will not like kids
more so; the dog will like them less, as they predict fear and pain. In fact
the dog may develop a negative association to kids or the general context that the dog and kids find themselves in.
Human Behavior is the focus.
No matter the level of
expertise or self appointed skill sets with dogs, the human that employs a
version of a positive non force approach will not be creating a dog that has a
worse association of kid. Or for that matter, the humans that do not use fear
and pain will not be causing a dog to have a more generalized sense of fear
than they already come equipped with. When it comes to associations to humans,
any humans, in any context, the goal should be a positive association for the
dog.
In time with the proper guidance and the proper knowledge of dog and kid safety you can have a dog that was once startled by kids liking them and tolerating the kids that my be a bit more rambunctious, but the humans need to do the work and buy “all in” to the actual factual way that dogs learn and process information, other wise they are barking up the wrong tree.
I prefer the word dedicated, over the word discipline, as
that word has no connotations of fear or pain associated with it. To be
dedicated is to be fully involved in the
process. That means obtaining the proper knowledge of dogs and also of
behavior and how that is to be increased and decreased by way of legitimate,
safe and scientific ways without fear and pain.
The words used and mindsets subscribed
to by humans matter greatly when it comes to dogs. If the human has a
preconceived notion that the dog is “out to get them” then all that the dog
does that the human does not want the dog to do will be viewed as such, when in
fact the dog is simply operating based on the imprint of the humans in the dogs
life as well as many biological processes that are hardwired. These hardwired
inclinations can be modulated and shaped. The sequences the humans can change,
and they can change all of them they should, in order to teach not simply stop
the dog.
ALL dogs know, and all dogs
know about is reinforcement and consequences of either their actions,
or to the stimuli in the environment. Period. When people start to ascribe
other notions of the dogs “understanding” they are treading on the thin ice of
fictional assessments and in some cases, downright lies or fabrications that
are figments of cultural disinformation that has settled into the humans as
“truth”.
As soon as the corporate
hacks and cultural saboteurs are gagged and shut down perhaps we’ll see a
resurgence in at the very least, common sense knowledge about dogs and in time
we can get the legitimate information heard and understood over the din of
misinformation and lies about dogs.
When reinforcement is issued
for behaviors we want and like, the behaviors are increased and when kind
consequences are issued to decrease behaviors, those behaviors are decreased,
in some cases eradicated, and the dog shines. The dog has learned and is having
fun learning.
The humans and the dog really
start to understand their respective languages in a very profound way, not in a
way that has them living in fear of another painful reprisal. The human can
avoid having to “get mad” or use threats or devices to “control” dogs, they can
simply communicate with the dog. Is that not the whole point?
Remember, dogs are the oldest
living domesticated animal or plant, at least 2,000 years before agriculture. This
is an undisputed fact. Dogs were domesticated before electricity and molded
metal. Humans are the most reinforcing thing a dog has ever known, and dogs are
the most loyal and trust worthy thing humans have known, so they work well
intrinsically.
Indeed dogs do understand
fear, pain and intimidation, and they also forgive and show massive amounts of
deference. To me, it sounds like more humans should be acting like dogs in that
regard. Then perhaps we’ll see dogs behaving in ways that are more to our
liking and we’ll have a better understanding of their natural inclinations.
This then allows humans to be flexible and not take things personally, as dogs
are the only friends that humans have that do not have a moral agenda when
dealing with us. Dogs are looking for safety and reinforcement, they are not,
repeat not interested in gaining “rank” on humans.
When the proper understanding
of dogs, from basic ethological and biological perspectives are used to view
dog behavior, humans become a true teacher and spiritual guide to the dogs, not
simply a master and keeper of beasts of burden as they were thought of so long
ago.
Dogs are here for many reasons,
and in the modern age, I believe they are here, and still intertwined with
humans like no other animal has been, ever, is they here to teach the human race about empathy, about
the giving of yourself to another that is truly helpless and innocent and what
that responsibility entails. Dogs do not ever really “grow up” the only grow
old and pass on. They are innocent all of their lives right to the end.
Dogs when allowed are able to
be great teachers of basic and elaborate understanding of how behavior works
and the subsequent sciences and math associated to behavior. Dogs are a true
spiritual connection on earth that we are allowed to partake in truly for free
and with our moral compass aligned as we see fit.
Why or how could anyone hurt,
scare or in any way bath that act in various forms of euphemisms is profoundly
disturbing. It sounds like the thinking of sociopaths or severely under
educated humans stuck on a Descartes nightmare.
Dogs deserve better as they
have given humans their very lives for us to prosper and survive on earth. It
is about time a whole lot of people stopped faking it and get real. Remember
dogs are the conduits of the truth and you can’t mess with for too long before
being found out.
All one has to do in order to
do right by dogs is be honest just like a dog would.
References:
Q&A with Dr. McEwen
Interview with Dr. Shively
Stress: Portrait of a Serial
Killer. Interviews with Dr. Sapolsky, Dr. McEwen and Dr. Shively.
The Hippocampus and Imagining
the Future: Where Do We Stand?
Lindsay Vol1 Applied Dig
Behavior and Training 2000