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EMPATHY & COMPASSION

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Dog Stress Levels

When a dog has gone over threshold, attempting to train them at that moment will be useless. A dog that is over threshold is in “survival mode.” Her sympathetic nervous system is activated, which controls her body’s response to the perceived threat. Adrenaline increases, heart rate increases, muscles contract and pupils dilate as her body reacts as if it were facing a life-or-death event. In these situations, it is better to just get the dog out of the fearful situation or to try to minimize its impact in these instances. If a trainer fails to look at the dog as an individual who is fearful and views the dog’s failure to obey as a dominance issue, the trainer may start punishing a fearful dog for misbehaving when the dog is actually scared. This is especially true if the trainer ignores the fact that some dogs’ “zone of tolerance” is larger than others. Therefore, some dogs will take far less stress before going “over threshold.” Punishing fear only compounds the fear. The dog may then intensify its attempts to run away, or even go into fight mode and attack the handler. But if flight or fight do not work, and the [...]

By |2023-02-15T11:22:32-08:00January 16th, 2023|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

When Emotions Affect Behavior

When Emotions Affect a Dog's Behavior Some behaviors are the result of anxiety, fear, or excitement. As I have mentioned before, if a learner is too stressed, learning cannot occur. If the anxiety or fear is mild, you can help your dog with some homeopathic therapies. Some of these therapies can also help if you have a high-energy puppy or dog because they calm them down enough so they can learn the behaviors you are trying to teach. Homeopathic Therapies for Dogs ThunderShirt: This is a dog shirt that fits tightly on the dog’s body. It comes from the same reasoning that we use when we swaddle a baby. The tightness can help calm the nervous system and allow  the dog to be present when learning. The ThunderShirt can also be used during fireworks and thunderstorms.   Adaptil Pheromones: These pheromones come in collars, diffusers, and sprays. In some cases, these pheromones help reduce fear and anxiety so the dog can learn with less stress.   Through A Dog’s Ear (and other classical music created to calm dogs): This music was specifically created to calm dogs. You can use this when training; however, it is more beneficial to use when [...]

By |2022-12-15T09:18:16-08:00December 14th, 2022|Blog of the Month|0 Comments

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