The Emotions of dogs

I'm one of the first to say that if we treated dogs the same way we treated people, they would be a lot better off. We don't put prong collars or shock collars on children, and we certainly don't think they are trying to 'dominate' us. However many emotions and characteristics we do assign to dogs are very damaging and untrue. Dogs certainly feel things like happiness, pain, anxiety and other basic emotions, but certain, higher level human emotions are foreign to canines.

Guilt - Many people say their dogs are 'guilty' or 'know what they did wrong' however science tells a very different story. In one experiment a handler and his dog were left in a room with an experimenter - the dog was ordered to 'leave it' and a food treat was placed on the floor. The handler then left the room and in some instances the experimenter encouraged the dog to eat the food treat - in others he simply picked it up. The handlers were not informed which event happened, but were told in fact the dog ate it in all circumstances. Dogs displayed 'guilt' each time - however 'guilt' was described with positions such as low tail, looking away and other displacement behaviors. This showed the dogs weren't really 'feeling guilty' but were upset at the owners reaction. I've read stories of trainers proving this to people who were having troubles housebreaking and using punishment because they were convinced the dog 'knew he was doing something wrong' but yet when poop was placed on the floor in advanced by someone, the dog looked just as 'guilty' when the owner confronted the dog - even though he didn't do anything.

Stubborn- Many people say their dog is 'being stubborn' when failing to listen to a command they feel the dog knows. However most people do not realize how difficult it is for dogs to learn commands. Do you think your dog knows "Sit". Go in your bedroom, shut the door, and yell Sit and have someone else outside and see if the dog actually sits. Chances are he will not. If you then walk out and stand in front of the dog and repeat the cue - chances are he will sit. Was he being stubborn before? No, dogs just learn very differently than us and need practice in different circumstances and environments.

Failing to listen to a cue can also be an expression of an emotional state. A dog who is lunging and barking will likely also ignore a known command because they are too worked up to listen. A dog does not want to 'sit' if they feel threatened or scared by an approaching dog - they want to use a behavior that will make the dog go away, usually a bark or lunge. In fact the key to correcting aggression is giving the dog alternatives to these behaviors so they do them automatically.

Anyway, I wanted to write a quick post about these two issues I hear all the time and hopefully this will change your mind.

On a personal note, I got to spend the last 3 days last weekend in Toronto with my training hero Dr Ian Dunbar, I got to buy him a Canadian at the bar and we drank most of saturday night and he shared lots of stories including some about his meeting with Cesar milan for his last book. Great seminar and the true legend of dog training!

Also, I'll be on maritime morning on sunday at 10am discussing dog behavior and taking your questions on fm radio news 95.7 - you can also listen online at news957.com