Human Emotion and Dog Training

I've been a firefighter for over 30 years, and am drawing close to retirement for that career. Over the past many years I have enjoyed a second career in dog training, and often draw comparisons between my two professions. One area that I find very interesting is the effect of human emotion on outcomes.

In the fire service, we are called to make routine decisions that have life and death implications. We are often faced with challenging situations, limited information, and rapidly changing incidents. It's been my observation that those getting flustered, anxious, or bringing a lot of emotional energy to these challenges don't generally help themselves or those around them. Having a clear and calm thought process can save your life. That's hard to do when things are difficult. But I have found many people rise to the challenge, and believe it is a skill set that can be learned in many cases.

When it comes to helping a dog be better behaved or more obedient, human emotions also play a critical role. As human beings, we have a very strong emotional component to our make up. To our dogs, however, these emotions generally translate to energy. Dogs are masters at reading us (humans), and sensing changes in our emotions. An owner that is anxious, worried, angry, frustrated, or even too excited around their dog, can be causing unintended consequences. When dogs are around emotionally charged humans, they typically become a lighting rod for that energy. Hyper dogs get more hyper, nervous dogs get more anxious, and pushy dogs push harder.

Training and behavioral goals need to focus on teaching, and teaching involves sharing information. Teaching shouldn't involve telegraphing unsettled energy on a dog. Dogs that are being made more hyper, anxious, or pushy are not as capable of thinking clearly - so training's going to suffer. A good trainer can help owners become more aware of their own energy, and manage it in ways to help things improve. This takes a lot of coaching of interactions, and working toward calm, consistent, feedback for their dog. When information is being presented in a clear, consistent, and calm manner, dogs are going to be most receptive to learning.

Many calls to trainers are for dogs with serious behavioral issues, and often owners are very frustrated, anxious, or even afraid (of their dog or for their dog). Providing help often requires we detach ourselves from those human emotions. This can be a challenge for many people, but it's a skill that can generally be learned.