Why should you think twice before shouting to your dog
Live with animals
Fix and punish dogs can be effective at the time, but create medium and long term behavior problems
Tell me how you live and I'll tell you what animal you need
Mayte Rius
That raising his hand who has not shouted his dog.Because it has been made at home, because you eat a rest that finds on the street, because it jumps to greet the acquaintance who knocks on the door, because he tries to steal a piece of food that has fallen to the ground...It behaves badly, you stress...And you hit a shout to react and learn.Crassus error!
A team of scientists from the University of Porto has analyzed how dogs react to the most routine songs of their owners and training and their conclusions leave no doubt: even relatively mild punishments such as shouting, pulling the belt or pressing on their buttocks forThat dogs feel stress, making them more "pessimistic" than dogs trained with prizes and rewards, and that causes behavioral problems and long -term coexistence.
Even minor punishments such as screaming or pulling the strap stress the animal and can create behavioral problems
“Our way of acting entails changes in the behavior of our dogs;Fall, punish and other punitive methods work at the time to correct behavior, but they have negative consequences: in the long run the dogs do not trust the owner, they spend the day stressed, develop disorders and separation anxiety, destroy things, they are madeYour needs at home, spend the day licking until you get injured...”, Says Paula Calvo, ethologist and director of the Antrozoology platform.com.
The animal behavior specialist explains that she had already tried police and rescue dogs that punishment -based training (or with electric necklaces, for example) can have negative effects, and “the novelty of this investigation is that it focuses on thePunishment considered milder ”, in everyday practices of many pet owners, such as shouting, pulling the belt when the dog does not behave well...
“A typical punishment is to pull the necklace when it does not behave well or when it barks when crossing with another dog;And that means, every time, drowning the dog;And when we get angry we shouted, one day, and another, and another...In fact, sometimes we download the frustration in the dog, because it is faithful and does not complain, because we cannot shout to the couple or another person in our environment;And that generates stress to the animal, ”says Calvo.
This has been demonstrated by researchers from the University of Porto, led by Ana Catarina Vieira de Castro.They recruited 42 dog dog dogs based on rewards - which use food or play to foster good behaviors - and another 50 trained with negative reinforcement, such as shouting, shaking the belt or pressing their buttocks so that they feel.They controlled their cortisol levels (stress hormone) in saliva before and after training, which they recorded on video.
The investigation
Compared the cortisol levels of trained dogs by rewards or with negative reinforcements
And they found that the dogs that participated in programs with negative reinforcement showed more stress -related behaviors during training - such as licking or yawning - and recorded higher cortisol levels than those normally at home.Instead, dogs trained by rewards showed no variations in cortisol levels during training with respect to those at home.
And to find out if these effects were maintained, measured how 79 of the dogs responded to a possible food reward, with an experiment that allowed to classify dogs in optimistic or pessimistic mentality according to the speed with which they approached a bowl in which it couldor not having a sausage.According to his evidence, the more punishment a dog had received, the more "pessimistic" it was, and other studies have associated these pessimistic mentalities with separation anxiety and other problematic behaviors in dogs.
“These dogs will be more negative and that can affect coexistence with them;They will be more reactive in the street or by relating to other animals;They can be so insecure that they tend to aggressiveness...”, Coincides with the Director of Antrozoology.com
And exemplifies it with a very common behavior among dog owners: “If when you cross with another dog you bark and start pulling the belt or shouting, you add stress to the situation, you make the dog bark more and enddeveloping aggressiveness, because he associates that when he meets another dog you will punish him ”.In this sense, it should not forget that other investigations have shown that dogs spread from the stress of their masters, that there is a hormonal and emotional synchronization between the two.
On the contrary, he says, if the owner hopes without scolding him, he endures that the dog copes with his own discomfort, and, when he calms down, he rewards calm behavior, little by little the animal will associate that when another dog comes in the end he receives a prize, and it will be more pending the owner than to bark.“At the beginning it is exhausting, but in the long run it gives good results;And once a dog understands that in exchange for a certain behavior he receives a premise, you can withdraw them, because what he incorporates is positive behavior, ”says Calvo.
He emphasizes that we can achieve more achievements, and more consistent, with the positive reinforcement than with punishment and screams.“When you use the punishment you get a quick response for fear, but in the long run the animal will do the same but hidden;In addition, dogs only associate the punishment with something that have done wrong if the pillas in fraganti;If when you get home, something has broken or has been done and shouts or taught what it has broken, it will show guilt because it sees you angry, but it will not correlate it with its behavior, only with fear of screams and anger ”,Justify the ethologist.
However, it seems easier to say it than to do it.And many of those who have a dog at home, especially if he is a puppy, they will be wondering, so what?Is it made at home and I don't tell him anything?“When you do it badly, you clean it and do nothing;It is useless;And then, if when you take a long walk I pee on the street, you give it a prize;Thus, over time, he associates that he is compensating to wait to do it on the street because then he takes a prize, ”says Calvo.
In practice
“If you shout the dog, it will run in the opposite direction to you and what you have taken will eat;The alternative is to train the order ‘loose’ with prizes so that, in the long run, obey when you say it ”
And how do we avoid screaming when it runs or will eat something that should not?"If you shout the dog will go in the opposite direction to you, and you will also eat what you did not want, faster if you do not take it off," says the specialist.The alternative, he explains, is to train the order of "loose" or "leave" with prizes so that, in the long run, obey when you tell him.“When you go to take something, you give you an option that interests you more, such as showing a piece of ham nearby;She will leave what she has in her mouth while you tell her loose;And so you are practicing, and in the end with an order - "she releases" - she will always open her mouth, "he says.
In case someone does not see the long -term advantages that can have to work and relate positive.“Chronic stress affects many levels, both in behavior - there are dogs that get to bite their tail and automate the stressed that are - and in health;Excess cortisol affects metabolism and has physiological consequences;There are many dogs that die of cancer, and cancer and stress are very correlated, ”he concludes.
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