More On Doing Nothing. Reactive To People At The Door.

Anxiety is a primary emotion – an instinct – for both you and your dog. Your dog is having an instinctual response to something the dog deems negative in the environment.

When you meet something new in the environment that you’re not sure of – it will create an anxiety or a fear emotion in you. As a result – one of 3 things is going to happen. 1. You fight – show aggression in defense. 2. You flight – run away. Or 3 – you rationalize through the fear – become indifferent – you realize that it’s not a big deal right? Is thing negative thing that is presented in front of me worthy of fight, flight – or can I make it not a big deal. It’s the hormone cortisol that puts you on the precipice of fight and flight. You are having an instinctual – emotional – and hormonal response to something in the environment that you’re not sure of. Your brain signals the adrenal glands to increase cortisol – your very fight and flight hormone.

Rationalization is going to turn that “negative reinforcement” that you’re not sure of – into a “Positive Consequence” – sometimes it needs alot of repetitions. This is Positive Reinforcement in reality – turning negatives reinforcements into positive consequences. That’s called Operant Conditioning.

But you’re being told to train the dog right? Train for what? You are being told to train hormones. You cannot train a dog to behave – that’s not how behaviors work. He’s a great dog but… He’s an obedient dog but… Insert string of behaviors here.

This is the same process that your dog goes through – but unfortunately – they only get 2 decisions. Fight or flight – the ability to rationalize – to become indifferent has been taken away from them. Why? Because when a dog has a fight or flight episode – you are told by trainers to step in to reward and punish the dog. Dogs can rationalize – but they never get the chance to do so. You are removing that skill because you are being told to “fix” your dog that isn’t broken.

So, what do you do instead?

Put a leash on the dog with a flat collar. Stand with the dog across the room away from the door. Stand there and do nothing. Use the leash as a seat belt to block. If you have a larger dog, then take the dog gently by the collar and hold the dog. Have one or 2 people come into the home. What happens? Dog freaks out – but there is no intent to harm right?

Your dog is having that fight or flight response. It’s a cortisol response. Say nothing. Do nothing. Let them get it out of their system – the dog is engaged on something in the environment. And while a dog is fully engaged – they aren’t thinking properly – and you can’t teach anything at that point. At some point, they are going to disengage – because now they are learning that this thing isn’t a bad thing. Nothing bad is happening. The dog is going to calm – just like you would. This is called rationalizing through fear. Many dogs stop and look at me – it’s the same look – how come you’re not freaking out at this thing with me. Stop making things a big deal. The more you try to fix the dog – the worse it gets. Ever notice that? There is a reason for it – now you know what it is.

Tell your guests to ignore the dog, have people sit on the couch and carry on. Ignore the dog, leave the dog alone. Don’t try to pet the dog. When the dog calms, what happens?

Punishment is supposed to remove a behavior from a repertoire – but it only works when the tools of punishment and the constant threat of punishment exist. Negative reinforcement is not punishment.

Negative reinforcements generate behaviors – there is your fight or flight response. And your very fight or flight response is your Positive Reinforcement. The desire for the good things in life – and no negative reinforcements to generate those behaviors.

That’s called a state of calm – nothing is a big deal. And that state of calm is addictive – its the desire that all animals have. No animal would choose to live in fear and stress.

Be the change you want in your dog. All people really want is an overall calm dog. So be calm. Be patient. Be quiet and put the onus on the dog.

What is fear at its core but lack of trust and understanding? Man fears that which he cannot understand. if you don’t trust your dog – then you fear your dog – there is something about your dog that you don’t understand. It’s understanding that conquers fear – and understanding can only come from knowledge.

Something to think about.