Let’s consider the strange idea that extreme dog behaviour requires extreme methods for a moment, as it comes up quite regularly.
This idea suggests that people who advocate for positive, kind methods don’t know how to handle aggressive behaviour in dogs—that we can only understand sweet, easy-going animals and that ethical methods only work on gentler dogs.
What an insidious myth that is.
This belief seems to be rooted in the idea that dogs showing aggressive responses need a "stronger hand," a firmer approach—aggression in return.
However, nothing could be further from the truth, at least not from an educated perspective.
Aggression, you see, is often a shield for fear.
Violence is a guard against the perception of danger.
It becomes quite obvious when you’ve studied physiology and the nature of the nervous system.
Aggressive responses happen as a result of the survival response being triggered in the autonomic nervous system.
The Nervous System Response
The nervous system is a beautiful part of the physiology of all sentient beings. It works hard to keep us safe, like a special friend that has protected us for so long. It regulates its own responses. It’s the reason we go into fight-or-flight mode—not out of nowhere, but in response to a perceived threat.
Dog and human nervous systems are very similar. Both species have a fight, flight, or freeze response to events perceived as dangerous. Something straightforward, like a confrontation or a near-miss, can be handled swiftly by a healthy nervous system. However, things get more complicated if there’s a history of trauma.
The nervous system becomes unregulated when exposed to ongoing threats or trauma. It’s crucial to understand that the dog decides what is threatening. We can’t decide that for them.
And trauma doesn’t always have to be something big. It can be as simple as a dog losing control of their environment and becoming scared. Let’s face it—many dogs have very little control over their environment.
Dogs and Trauma
Remember, trauma (or dysregulation) can be caused by nothing more than a lack of feeling safe. No major event needs to occur to trigger a trauma response.
Dogs with dysregulated nervous systems may exhibit intense reactions to what we would consider minor environmental triggers. These responses might appear aggressive, or they might not.
The nervous system responds in fight, flight, or freeze. A dog might try to run away first, but if restrained by a lead, they might lunge and bark. When a dog feels they cannot escape danger, they may enter a freeze response.
Example: A dog unable to flee but wanting to take flight.
Example: A dog entering fight mode because they feel trapped.
Example: A dog freezing when being touched against their will.
The dog who snaps more may actually be the most scared, worried, anxious, and traumatised. Therefore, this dog needs safety more than anything else.
This dog needs less training—not more—at least for the time being, because they lack a baseline of safety.
They don’t have a healthy, well-regulated nervous system.
They need to feel safe. They need gentle handling and educated understanding.
Can you imagine treating a traumatised child the way some people treat traumatised dogs?
If someone did that to a child and posted it on social media, there would be an uproar. But people do it to dogs all the time in the name of "training" and even defend it, as though they’re doing something good. Sadly, they’re building a following of others who do the same, perpetuating the myth that harsh methods are the “only thing that works with aggressive dogs.”
But it doesn’t work. It causes trauma and emotional suppression.
It victimises the biggest victims—and that’s why it’s so painful to see.
This is why educated people never meet force with force, or threats with threats.
Instead, we soothe the nervous system and bring the scared dog back to a state of safety.
Because we know the truth behind the snarl. We know the fear behind the fight. We love the dog enough to better ourselves in understanding and empathy for both dogs and ourselves.
And that’s exactly why the dog trainer who can ‘make’ a dog do something by using intimidation, force, fear, prong collars, shock, or just their presence needs to soften and look inward at themselves and their own shadows.
Because anyone who doesn’t do their own inner work will project their shadows onto the world, and that sometimes leads to using violence on dogs.
And dogs, my friends, deserve better.
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