R.A.W Dogs - Reactive And Wonderful

We used to inflict corporal punishment on our children. It 'worked' I suppose in that the child would be terrified and suppress what caused them to 'misbehave' in the first place.

We used to make them climb into chimneys, because we didn't want to, because they were small enough, and because we could. They were powerless and scared.

Thankfully most humans know that that approach is inhumane, ineffective and hopelessly outdated.

You can see where I'm going.

Science is great, despite a clarion call on social media from 'Balanced' trainers essentially saying it is crap.

The earth isn't flat people. We know, categorically and unequivocally, that we have kinder, and more effective ways than strangling dogs to make them do what we want them to.

Just brilliant.

And to those of you who still believe that the earth is flat, and that strangling dogs to get them to do what you want is OK, sleep soundly.

Why I’ll no longer be debating training methods on social media The dog training world is quite divided in some respects, and never more so than right now. The constant debate, or hatred of each other seems to be increasing. I don’t think the divide, between av…

'IT SEEMS THAT EXCITEMENT FOR OUR DOGS IS BECOMING A BAD THING'

I listened to a webinar this morning by Jean Donaldson from The Academy for Dog Trainers, and she included this sentence which really resonated with me.

She was talking about the current trend in the force-free world of restricting access to fetch, tug, chase etc, because it increases cortisol and stresses the dogs out. In other words these games CAUSE stress.

In humans, waking up increases cortisol. Exercise increases cortisol. No-one in their right mind is saying to not do those things.

When dogs do what they love, what their genetics dictate, what they need, then yes, their heart rates increase. They pant. Their cortisol levels rise. They're excited.

So should we err on the side of caution and restrict these things *incase* we stress the dog? They don't get to exercise their canine hardwiring to be on the safe side? I know what I think.

Essentially though, whether you agree or not, it's really important to me to say here that as yet, there is absolutely NO robust scientific evidence to confirm that fetch etc, even daily and for long periods, emotionally stresses our dogs. Absolutely none.

However, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that if dogs aren't given these outlets they're stressed off their heads.

So I guess what I'm asking is, if someone peddles this as fact, push them to quote a peer-reviewed, credible scientific study. There isn't one. And if they're wrong the fallout for our dogs' happiness and wellbeing is significant.