Punishment: Correction or Abuse?

Punishment: Correction or Abuse?

Punish= ment is Abuse. Punishment starts with anger, and, unfortunately, has many manifestations, ranging from wringing hands to wringing necks! Scolding, hitting, shaming, banishment, confinement, yelling, muzzling, duct-taping t= he mouth, scruff shaking, kicking, rubbing the dog's nose in its excrement, pinning--and even biting their dog back!--are just some examples of the typ= es of abuse inflicted on companion dogs by owners desperate for compliance.

People= have been led into a false sense of knowledge about companion animals, especially dogs. Proximity with dogs, both in real life and through media representati= ons, has allowed a sort of half-fact, half-fiction hybrid idea of the dog to dev= elop in our minds. How close is our perception of man's best friend to the real thing? There are as many interpretations of dogs as there are dogs! Can everyone be right? To truly know a dog, one must have both scientific knowl= edge and emotional empathy. Understanding dogs' needs, drives, instincts and perceptions helps people avoid the pitfalls of overlooking the real thing in favour of a canine version of "The Emperor's New Clothes." Too ma= ny dogs go unrecognized for what they are; their owners are too busy trying to reshape, coerce or pound them into being the dogs they want, instead of appreciating the dogs they have.

What a= re we trying to accomplish with punishment? Control. We want to interrupt, abolish and disallow inappropriate behavior. Punishment at best results in a dog, t= hat, out of submission and/or subordinance, stops misbehaving when interrupted, = or when the disciplinarian is present. What happens when the 'authority' figure leaves? The pup hasn't learned to not begin the misbehavior in the first pl= ace, and is quite likely to resume self entertainment as soon as the "trainer" is out of sight! Some pups even begin to misbehave deliberately and then wait to see who will play the "negative-attention game" with them. Although owners rarely find this type of interaction = fun, many dogs do. Any attention at all may be perceived as positve by a young, bored, unemployed = dog!

Can do= gs actually enjoy punishment, i.e., negative attention? Probably not; but they certainly enjoy their owners' company and attention. If a bored or lonely d= og concludes its actions result in an absentee owners' return and resulting reactions, the doggie-delinquent/angry owner pendulum may start to swing! Though the dog may cower while being punished, it isn't actually learning n= ot to repeat its behavior. Submissive postures are often interpreted as displa= ys of "guilt;" but actually, they are just one of the ways dog's are engineered to defend themselves when under attack. When a dog feels threate= ned by an angry, punishing owner, it will respond reflexively. This means that = it will stop thinking and start reacting, all the while associating the "punishment" with its owner, not with its own misdeed! Defensive reactions will manifest in one three ways: Freeze, Flight, or Fight, or someti= mes a combination of these.

Freeze reflexes cause= a dog to cower and even roll over and urinate. These dogs are surrendering to the threat, throwing themselves at their attacker's mercy--in essence, the cani= ne equivalent of saying, "uncle". They are not showing they are sorr= y or that they understand the nature of their crime. Dogs do not posess a moral code, and are not aware of the principles of "right" or "wrong."

The se= cond possible defensive response is flight, in which a dog retreats from threat. If cornered, a flight-prone dog may surface serious aggression as a last stand, panic-based response. This is w= hat causes some dogs to be labelled "fear biters". These dogs would rather not bite, they would like to leave. Only when escape is impossible, = does the flight reflex dog resort to aggression.

The th= ird response to threat is fight, or counter-aggression. Strike a dog with aggressive self defense reflexes a= nd you might get snapped at! The defensively aggressive dog is not choosing to "turn" on its owner; it reacts, the same way a knee jerks when ta= pped with a doctor's rubber mallet. Punished dogs frequently learn to repeat aggressive behaviors more and more deliberately, once they've discovered th= eir overt behavior causes their attacker to retreat! Many so-called dominant do= gs are aggressive-reflex based animals that have evolved into bullies due to t= he success they've experienced with what started out as automatic behaviour. <= o:p>

Punish= ment quickly becomes the most predictable type of attention many puppies receive. Although a "stop when I say no" approach may deter a subordinate = dog temporarily, it will not work with dogs that disrespect their would-be boss= es. Even the dog that does stop when scolded may resume the undesired behavior again, as soon as the "big boss" leaves!

Puppie= s soon learn unpleasant new tricks when their owners are willing, if unwitting, followers. Picture a puppy out in a newly fenced, dog friendly back yard. T= he owner peeks out the window to observe the dog enjoying nature. But the dog seems to be enjoying nature a bit too much; he's started his own excavating business, digging a crater in his own little "Garden of Eaten!" The owner runs out brandishing a rolled= -up newspaper to interrupt the misdeed, and to teach the dog a lesson in yard etiquette. And learn he does! Not to never dig again, but to dig more! Digg= ing is still enjoyable when alone in nature, but now it also seems to cause peo= ple to come running out into the yard! Granted, the human friends are not in the best of moods, but to a social animal, any company is better than none. The pendulum begins its swing--dog leading with misbehavior, and the owner following with reaction.

Dogs d= o not like to be scolded and hit, but they do like predictable interaction. Negat= ive attention is still attention; it is more fun than being ignored. A dog lying quietly in the yard is an owner's ideal, not a dog's. Young healthy dogs do= n't see torn up shrubs and deep holes as unsightly; they don't care! Very few parents need to wonder why children prefer playing in large rain puddles to sitting in starched clothes in church; one is much more fun. The difficult aspect of training is making life more enjoyable for everyone, while teachi= ng appropriate behavior and self control. Punishment may bend or break a dog t= hat is soft and noncompetitive by nature; in some cases direct punishment has b= een credited with reeducating certain misbehaving dogs. But even when it "works" such harsh tools weren't necessary; beyond the supposed "lesson," punishment teaches dogs to fear their owners, to be over-submissive, hand-shy and distrustful!

Dogs w= ill be dogs. The misbehaving dog is a perfectly good dog, devoid of human values; everything it does makes perfect dog sense. Angry owners often project human reasons onto their dogs to explain the dog's misbehaviors. These misinterpretations lead= to punishment applied to a dog that is incorrectly perceived as willfully malicious. For example, a young dog left home alone with the run of the hou= se is likely to become destructive. Not because it is "spiteful," or "trying to get even" for being left alone! The dog is destructive because it is a frustrated social animal, that by nature would never experi= ence solitary confinement, and redirects stress energy whenever tension levels b= egin to mount. Stressed dogs can't call for help on the canine psychiatric hotli= ne. When tension levels build, dogs release their pent up energy either orally, = vocally or physically. The destructive dog does not understand or consider the value of what it destro= ys or the level of nuisance it creates. Understanding human rules, values and expectations is not part of canine nature. The environment is not natural a= nd the language is not understood, making things inconsistent and unclear.

If a d= og is behaving inappropriately, of course it needs to be reeducated, but its teac= hers must first reeducate themselves. Some owners keep repeating punitive discip= line even when it obviously isn't working. Their pet's misbehavior is threatening their ability to like the dog, and worse, possibly even threatening the dog= 's permanence in their home! They are frustrated, angry, and desperately want their dog to "get it," to stop misbehaving. They are tired of cleaning up messes, tired of having things destroyed. They may just keep tr= ying to show their dog the "wrongness" of its deeds, and the harsh res= ults those deeds earn, never realizing the dog DOESN'T GET IT, no matter how many ti= mes it "gets it!"

There = is no excuse for abuse and cruelty. There is, however, an excuse for every canine misbehavior. Understanding the source of every problem is the first and lar= gest step towards correcting it. Symptomatic treatment in the form of punishment only makes more problems for everyone. We should not punish dogs for thinki= ng like dogs, nor hold them accountable for what they perceive as appropriate = behavior. Some people may argue that in some instances punishment works and therefore should be considered a legitimate form of behavioral correction. There are other tools that would work just as well, and without harm to either the do= g or that dog's trust in its human keepers! The end (a subdued dog) doesn't just= ify the means (force and intimidation). When dog owners become so frustrated th= ey resort to punishing their pets, it is time to stop and seek help. There are many trainers and behaviorists who offer owner and dog educational programs. The ones that work use positive reinforcement techniques, not personal punishment. They allow dogs to form or revise their own opinions about their own behaviors, rather than imposing harsh control upon them. Positive reinforcement helps dogs to learn the right ways to behave without ever feeling fear or distrust!