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Emotional Dog Training

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT-FLE

French bulldog sitting in a dog bed next to a patio door looking up This article will undoubtedly appear as a controversial piece to many, so be it! I accept the divergence of opinions, for I am open to constructive criticism and capable of objective dialogue. My purpose is to make people think. Think about relationships, beliefs, and ideas. 

I challenge the reader to sit back and ask yourself this question: where do I find myself in the negative/positive continuum? There is no right or wrong answer. You are where you find yourself.

Punishment (-) _____________________ (?) _____________________________ Reinforcement (+)

I think the line between punishment and abuse is a very thin one and should be discussed. The idea for this article came to me when I read the following statement: "Finding a dog trainer who will not hurt your dog, either physically or EMOTIONALLY, is not easy." The text, written by Paws for Praise, reminds us that human-dog relationships should be based on acceptance, understanding, and love; unfortunately, this is easier said than done. 

 
I have been working with dogs and other species of the canine genus for many, many years and know the value of the statement; conversely, I find it strange that humans demand of dogs things they do not do or have great difficulty doing themselves. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe in training animals with force; however, dogs, animals, and people have emotions and it's impossible, not to say ludicrous, to think a living organism can go through life without EVER having its emotions hurt.

Punishment
Punishment is defined as adding something the dog doesn't want in order to reduce or decrease the probability the undesirable behaviour will occur again; therefore, anything that will stop and/or reduce a behaviour is defined as a punishment.

The punisher can be anything that involves the senses and emotions: auditory (sounds, words, or noises...), physical (touch, poke, kick, electric shock, choke, wind, heat, cold...), visual (rolling, falling, floating, flying things...), olfactory (perfumes, spices, vinegar, urine, feces...), emotions (fear, anger...). Punishers are an inescapable part of life. So, where do we draw the line between punishment and abuse? Is it when the punishment becomes physical? Is it when the dog manifests appeasement and avoidance signals? Is it when the dog exhibits fear or aggression? How can we evaluate a dog's emotional state without relying on observable behaviour? When dogs exhibit appeasement and avoidance signals, their emotions may already be triggered or not. Will the punisher create a long-lasting emotional scar if their emotions are heightened?


If parents yell No! at their children as they are about to cross the street, are their emotions hurt? For some children, the answer might be yes, and for others, no. If the child cannot speak, how can we infer his emotions were harmed? Ultimately, who can conclude, without a doubt, that the child or dog is emotionally wounded? These questions are hard to answer as we don't know, beyond exhibited physical behaviours, whether the organism is emotionally suffering.
 
As mentioned above, I am not writing this piece to justify or negate punishment; I know where I find myself on the punishment/reinforcement continuum. I feel this question should be discussed further; therefore, I ask you, the reader, where do you find yourself on the continuum and why? How do you know which punisher has a long-lasting emotional effect on the dog? Based on what is shown on television, where do you draw the line between punishment and abuse?
 
Maybe the answer lies in intent...
To be continued.

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