Belief

Belief

Thinking
more like a dog

Why do so many dog behavior problems seem to come back a few
weeks or months after a dog has been trained by an expert? Dog guardians often
blame themselves, when in reality, usually the training method is at fault. You
see a lot of current dog training misses out on something extremely important,
read on to see exactly what that is.

Making The
Behavior Stronger

So, as soon as the short term overwhelm has worn off, up
pops the behavior and it’s probably going to be worse than ever. Not because
the dog is bad, but because his natural survival instinct is screaming at him
to keep the resources or he may die.

How sad.

We can do things very differently here and show the dog that
resources are plentiful. Over time he will no longer feel threatened and
happily share. Simply adding resources, with careful observation, can change
the negative belief about resources to a positive one.

The Dog’s Beliefs

What is belief? It’s exactly what the dog has learned in his
life so far. For example:

·        
A low self-belief/confidence level.

·        
A fear of something.

·        
A fear of everything.

Think of resource guarding (as it’s a common dog behavior
problem). When a dog believes that he needs to be scared of losing his food
because he has gone hungry before, his belief is deep set and focused directly
on his survival instinct.

If we then take away his food or resources, we are making
that belief stronger. We might mask the response by threatening the dog or
powerfully/physically overwhelming the animal but nonetheless (not only is this
unfair and nasty) we are strengthening the underlying belief.

Belief Applies to EVERYTHING

This is true 100% of the time. If a dog believes that he
must run aggressively towards other dogs or people (often a well-hidden fear
reaction) then no amount of powerful training and hurtful devices will change the
belief. They will just change the behavior but only temporarily.

The dog will still feel scared. In fact, when a behavior is
squashed under a nasty collar or a trainer that he is scared of, the fear (the
belief) actually gets worse. Not only is the treatment adding to the initial
anxiety, but the dog now has even less control when facing his fears.

When a dog’s fear is pushed back into the body and mind
there has to be an outlet at some point. It might be a behavior relapse, or it
could be much worse. This kind of scenario can easily lead to a dog that’s
labelled unpredictable, volatile or in a state of being shut down.

The fact that belief drives all behavior is exactly why dog
training must always focus on it. Trainers and behavior consultants must work
with the dog, way beyond the simpler approach of behavior change and well into
the dog’s belief system. To do so will lead to lasting, positive and kind
change for everyone involved.