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There is often much debate on whether a dog’s have emotions that are similar to ours.
I’m sure very dog owner would say "Yes, they do!"
Exactly what those emotions are is impossible to know completely. Although through science there is an increasing understanding, producing a fascinating insight into how the dog’s brain works and their emotional world, which is considered to be about as developed as a 2 ½ year old human. This can vary between individual dogs.
Dog’s emotions often drive their behaviours, moving them towards comfort and pleasure - joy or contentment, or away from discomfort and pain - fear, anger, distress, disgust and are mainly influenced by an inner drive to survive.
A lot of dogs’ emotions we can clearly see in their body language or behaviour - https://www.politepoochesessex.co.uk/post/talking-dog-language
This knowledge provides us with crucial information on how we can use emotions to improve training outcomes, or how best to overcome behavioural concerns.
It is always crucial to have a full vet check if you have any concerns with your dog’s behaviour. Several unwanted behaviors are symptoms of undiagnosed or untreated pain or health issues, which can cause distress or fear.
Influences that can affect emotions.
A dog’s history can have an influence. Some dogs from a rescue background, poor breeding background or under stimulated/negative early puppyhood can struggle more with training or behaviour due to neural pathways not developing properly due to influence of stress hormones.
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(Signs of a dog under stress - paw lift, tight mouth, hard stare, questionable ear placement)
Some dogs may have had training techniques that involved some form of physical force; often this form of training may have appeared to be successful but is likely to have caused a dog some form of stress.
When a dog is stressed, a hormone called cortisol is released, which when reaching a high level the brain becomes overwhelmed. You may think a dog is submitting or becoming calm, when in fact they are shutting down.
These experiences would likely have caused suspicion, distress and fear, which may cause future behavioural problems and can have serious effects on a dog’s health in the long term.
Scent has a major influence on a dog’s brain, it dominates their lives with many parts of their brain far more developed than humans to process the information.
Scents are most likely to cause a dog to appear to show disgust. Disgust is an adaptive emotion that serves the primary function of avoidance. Dogs are likely to show this in their body language - screw their face up, raise or move their head/face away, walk away, or they may even snarl, growl or bark.
Our own behaviour influences and beliefs.
Dogs have evolved, through domestication, over thousands of years, and they have adapted and learnt how to live with people, and understand us through verbal and nonverbal information to a simple degree.
People are often convinced that their dogs feel guilt or shame, but we can often attribute human emotions or intentions onto dogs, known as anthropomorphism, a well-documented tendency of human psychology.
To feel guilt or shame requires a sense of self consciousness of how our own behaviour affects others. A dog’s cerebral cortex (thinking brain) is smaller than that of a human, and it's believed that dogs don't have the capacity to generate something as complex as the self-consciousness needed to feel guilty or shameful.
The behaviour witnessed from a dog when a misdemeanour has been discovered is more likely a representation of anxiety, fear and/or appeasement - crouching down or slinking about, lowered head, ears back, avoiding eye contact or showing 'whale eye', panting or excessive licking.
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It is likely sometime in the past, on discovery of something chewed or a toileting in the home, for example, we may have used a different or strong voice, had a shocked or angry face, used strong eye contact, loomed over the dog or displayed other body language, such as flapping arms about, pointing or waving at the problem. All of this behaviour can be confusing and possibly threatening to a dog and/or associated with a form of reprimand or punishment in the past.
This lack of self-consciousness also makes it unlikely that a dog would feel pride, as dogs have no sense of their own achievements. The ‘look’ of pride, standing tall and appearing happy or smug, is more likely joy or contentment, from digging that big hole for example.
Contempt is also listed as an emotion not experienced by dogs and the body language shown by dogs is likely a negative or avoidance body language that is interpreted by humans as contempt.
Using emotions to positively influence training and/or behaviour.
When learning, a dog is more likely to repeat a behaviour that made them feel happy.
Feel good or ‘happy hormones’ can have a profound effect on behaviour. Serotonin is responsible for regulating mood, enhancing a positive feeling and inhibiting aggressive response. Dopamine helps focus attention and promote feelings of satisfaction. A lack of these can causes irritability, limited impulse control, over reactivity, anxiety and greater sensitivity to pain.
To encourage and support these happy hormones we can often achieve this using dog’s instincts and natural abilities.
Using a dogs scenting abilities is a valuable tool in changing the way the brain works, as scent, memories and emotions are closely linked in the brain’s anatomy.
This can be put into practice using food as motivators, reinforcers or rewards.
Treats are a powerful tool when training or implementing behavioural modification, as food is one of the primary reinforcers for all animals, because of the need to eat to survive. Eating tasty treats also gives a dog the emotions of joy, excitement, and arousal (brain stimulation), allowing positive learning to take place.
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It is not bribery, it encourages focus and attention and actually changes the way a dog feels and therefore behaves.
If your dog is not interested in treats there can be a number or reasons –the treats are just not exciting enough, their usual kibble will not be stimulating enough; they are scared or stressed; they are well fed and may have other more important drives such as play or chase.
When working with fearful dogs that show reactive behaviour – fight, flight, freeze, flirt, fidget/fool around, the timing of food is crucial. It must be at the right time and at a suitable distance needed for an individual dog to form a positive association and/or response. If a dog is not taking food, then they are likely in a fearful state, overwhelmed or conflicted, and they will require greater support with the exposure distance or duration.
See blog post for more information: https://www.politepoochesessex.co.uk/post/understanding-reactive-behaviour-in-dogs
When a dog has a solid understanding of skill or task, food treats can often be replaced with praise and/or play opportunities, which will continue to build your dog’s confidence and trust through affection/love, joy, excitement and arousal.
Continue to provide enrichment to keep those positive emotions of joy and contentment. https://www.politepoochesessex.co.uk/post/enrichment-what-is-it-what-is-the-point
Allowing for an outlet for natural instincts will help manage behaviour and support brain activity, so, your dog will not only be happier and calmer, but better at learning in the future.
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