Should dogs ever be put in situations that might or do scare them?
Yes.
Should dogs purposely be terrorized?
No.
The Real World: There is no world or era that ever existed in which something wasn’t going to scare a dog. That is true for all higher animal species. We cannot, and should not, put dogs in a bubble to prevent all stress and fear: even putting them in a bubble would scare and stress them. If you are wanting to be a bubble-maker, then don’t get a dog.
Some things are innately scary to a puppy. For example, going down or up stairs for the first time. That challenge is going to be scary. Puppies instinctively fear falling. Human babies do, as well. Experiments have been done with both. Put a glass plate over a “cliff” and let the puppy walk forward or baby crawl forward to the perceived “edge”. They will both stop before “falling”. They will experience a feeling of fear and appropriate learning and actions will take place. This is partly why it is hard to load a dog, or even a horse, in or out of a vehicle.
There are other stimuli in the environment that are prone to cause fear in animals. For rats, it can be the presence of cat hairs. For birds, something big and dark, shaped like a predatory bird, “flying” overhead. For dogs, a bigger dog hovering over them is scary. You will see puppies get scared, for example, when first being socialized with other strange dogs. Even you sometimes will scare your own puppy such as standing over them, picking them up, trimming nails, baths, setting them down, familiarizing them with your home and yard, and doing normal household chores.
Since you know some things can be scary, you need to know which scary experiences you want your dog to deal with, and others that would be a setback, and have a plan for both.
Collars are often scary the first time they are put on. Same with leashes. Same with the presentation of a new treat, food bowl, water bowl, brush, comb, scissors, new toy, crate, location, drive in a vehicle, meeting with your friends and family, vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, air conditioners, and on and on. So, let’s stop with the no fear thing. It isn’t real.
When I train dogs and owners, I don’t prevent puppies from experiencing normal things that might appear scary at first. I help them familiarize and adapt to those animals, people, locations, objects and situations. That is your secondary job regarding fear. Your primary job is preventing fearful experiences that won’t improve your dog’s welfare.
What about training?
Well, puppies are going to be afraid of pottying the first time in your yard. I am not going to avoid helping a dog learn about their new territory, since I don’t want them to just potty in the home for the rest of their lives.
Puppies are going to be afraid of all the tools and things we do in training. Just because you don’t think it should be scary, that doesn’t mean the puppy perceives it that way. Even with treats, they are typically suspicious of a new food until they have seen it isn’t going to grab them, is sniffed and tasted successfully. That is a natural defense from being poisoned. You would do the same if you lived off the land. Have you ever researched how to tell if it is safe to eat something in the wild in case you were lost? You don’t just eat a tasty looking berry or mushroom, or touch some plant or animal, like you would from the grocery or pet store.
Even older dogs are going to get scared of objects, animals and people. Look folks, they are living beings. They are going to protect themselves naturally regardless of your good intentions. Your job is to supervise these encounters to promote your dog’s welfare.
What about “dominance”? What is it and how is it established? Rank is taken by force in the animal world, either psychologically or by physical action. That’s why dogs are always alert to their relationship status and rank relative to other dogs and people.
“Top dog”, human or canine, is threatening by mood, physical size, scent and other natural factors. All dogs notice the mood of the other person or animal. Size of others is also factored into how they are going to perceive that other animal or person. Loud and low vocalizations by people, as well as other animals, convey a larger size. Raise your voice? You are adding threat to the situation. Lower your voice? Same thing. Posture and proximity matter: get closer and stand taller? Same thing, it is intimidating. Hate to tell you, while dogs aren’t wolves, and it is rare that a pet dog gets in a purely offensive violent fight with a human over status or rank as would a wild or tamed wolf, your dog still perceives your status and rank and responds accordingly. However, it isn’t so rare for dogs to perceive status and rank and fight with another dog in the home. Those are often those fights where people say they didn’t see it coming and they can’t figure out what the dogs were fighting over.
Some of what you perceive as affection are submissive gestures in response to your worrying presence, meant to convey that all is good, I’ll accept you, please accept me, and I don’t want a fight.
What about training methods? There is this huge, stupid debate over R+ vs Balanced Training. It’s like two cults arguing about the best way to get to paradise.
Yes, I find it best to use positive reinforcement (R+) to teach skills and then clean up the mistakes with either positive or negative punishment.
Let’s talk real world: You can only go so far with positive reinforcement before you run up against naturally occurring, and sometimes biologically more important, positive reinforcements in the environment and situation that will successfully compete against all your dogs’ R+ trained actions. You then have the choice whether to never let your dog get near those things, animals, people or situations, or you must finish the job to cause them to avoid those encounters… walk away, keep them on leash, never leave the home, only be free in a fenced yard, etc. Basically make them a prisoner in a gilded cage.
Example: I have heard R+ trainers claim they can teach dogs to leave rattlesnake alone purely with R+ training. Smell/ See Rattlesnake => Run to Handler => Get a Treat.
That isn’t going to work. Even dogs that have been trained with e-collars to leave rattlesnakes, Kiwi, ungulates, crocodiles, alligators, rodents, and birds sometimes are still too tempted and will go after those animals. It is well established that skill learning from bad experiences is harder to forget than those learned by good experiences. The brain and body are hardwired to try and not repeat mistakes that were unpleasant. That is why I never sweat it if a student accidentally drops a treat during a lesson and the dog gets it. Food training is very forgiving. But I am very cautious before I instruct students on ideas about how to correct unwanted actions. For some novices, once you give them a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. I want the dog to know what to do before we clean up the part about what not to do. None of this is about instilling fear in the dog as a way of terrorizing them. But by the nature of corrections, the brain is going to process every known mistake and consequence as something emotionally unpleasant.
What about R+ Only? Even if someone claims to be a purely R+ trainer, every time they withhold a reward, that is negative punishment and distressing to the dog. Otherwise it wouldn’t work. Even when free shaping, every mistake is not rewarded and is a negative punishment. So, let’s not say that “purely positive” trainers don’t use punishment. They do. Even studies on the physiological effects of negative punishment show increases in stress and hormone markers roughly equivalent as those found when using typical dog training corrections. So, we are more dealing with a marketing strategy than a discussion of animal welfare.
Competitors are trolling other dog trainers, purposely provoking fights, to gain attention to make money. How can you know? Many of the so-called “all positive” trainers will not debate, or demonstrate their skills, alongside the people who train dogs to do real things in the real world. Petulant trolling isn’t making it better for the dog world.
What About The Abusers? There are dog owners, trainers and advocates that do want to make dogs afraid, crushing them on purpose. They glory in it like Caligula in ancient Rome. Normal dog training isn’t abuse. However, it would be easy for some so-called “balanced trainers” which are abusers hiding in the midst of others that are not abusers.
Fear: Is fear a normal response in real life? Yes. Does it need to be managed when training dogs? Yes. Can it be avoided completely? No. Should it be avoided completely? No.
Isolation experiments on animals always result in the emotional destruction of the test subjects. You should not train dogs like you are playing with some Hot Wheels in your living room, and then put them away in a cabinet when you want to do something else. It is just as abusive to purposely terrorize a dog as it is to do some kind of isolation experiment on your dog. There is a balance. Find that balance.
Plan accordingly.
