Talk to the Paw

05/03/2025

05/03/2025

04/24/2025

The problem with punishment in animal training is that it does work, and oftentimes quickly, at changing behaviors. But at what cost?🧐

Aversive methods suppress unwanted behaviors by causing pain and/or discomfort that the animal will try to escape or avoid. While this works to stop a behavior, it does not address the underlying motivation for it. This can be effective in the short term but often leads to unintended consequences and lasting harm.

Research has shown that aversive methods increase fear and stress, and also risk causing aggressive and unpredictable behaviors. We also put our relationship with our pets in jeopardy. Punishment fails to teach the learner alternative behaviors and coping strategies, and can lead to learned helplessness.

If you feel stuck or don't know how to achieve your pet's behavior or training goals without using aversive methods, please reach out to a credentialed reward-based trainer, behavior consultant, or veterinary behaviorist. We are here to help educate and make training and behavior modification feel achievable for everyone, without risking pets' welfare.

04/24/2025

Flowers and plants can add beauty to your home, but some may pose a risk to curious pets. The good news? You don’t have to give up all floral décor! Check out this list of toxic and pet-safe flowers to keep your home bright and your pets safe. Make sure to reward your furry friend for keeping out of your indoor jungle by shopping with our friends at Chewy using aspca.org/Chewy 🧡

04/10/2025

I am a 21st century dog….
-I'm a Malinois.
Overskilled among dogs, I excel in all disciplines and I'm always ready to work: I NEED to work.
But nowadays I get asked to chill on the couch all day everyday.

-I am an Akita Inu.
My ancestors were selected for fighting bears.
Today I get asked to be tolerant and I get scolded for my reactivity when another approaches me.

-I am a Beagle.
When I chase my prey, I raise my voice so the hunters could follow.
Today they put an electric collar on me to shut up, and you make me come back to you - no running - with a snap of your fingers.

-I am a Yorkshire Terrier.
I was a terrifying rat hunter in English mines.
Today they think I can't use my legs and they always hold me in their arms.

-I'm a Labrador Retriever.
My vision of happiness is a dive into a pond to bring back the duck he shot to my master.
Today you forget I'm a walking, running, swimming dog; as a result I'm fat, made to stay indoors, and to babysit.

-I am a Jack Russell.
I can take on a fox, a mean badger, and a rat bigger than me in his den.
Today I get scolded for my character and high energy, and forced to turn into a quiet living room dog.

-I am a Siberian Husky.
Experienced the great, wide open spaces of Northern Europe, where I could drag sleds for long distances at impressive speeds.
Today I only have the walls of the house or small garden as a horizon, and the holes I dig in the ground just to release energy and frustration, trying to stay sane.

-I am a border collie
I was made to work hours a day in partnershipwith my master, and I am an unmistakable artist of working with the herd.
Today they are mad at me because, for lack of sheep, I try to check bikes, cars, children in the house and everything in motion.
I am ...
I am a 21st century dog.

I'm pretty, I'm alert, I'm obedient, I stay in a bag...but I'm also an individual who, from centuries of training, needs to express my instincts, and I am *not* suited for the sedentary life you'd want me to lead.

Spending eight hours a day alone in the house or in the garden - with no work and no one to play or run with, seeing you for a short time in the evening when you get home, and only getting a small toilet walk will make me deeply unhappy.

I'll express it by barking all day, turning your yard into a minefield, doing my needs indoors, being unmanageable the rare times I'll find myself outside, and sometimes spending my days sunk, sad, lonely, and depressed, on my pillow.

You may think that I should be happy to be able to enjoy all this comfort while you go to work, but actually I’ll be exhausted and frustrated, because this is absolutely NOT what I'm meant to do, or what I need to be doing.
If you love me, if you've always dreamed of me, if my beautiful blue eyes or my athletic look make you want me, but you can't give me a real dog's life, a life that's really worth living according to my breed, and if you can't offer me the job that my genes are asking, DO NOT buy or adopt me!

If you like the way I look but aren't willing to accept my temperament, gifts, and traits derived from long genetic selection, and you think you can change them with only your good will, then DO NOT BUY OR ADOPT ME.

I’m a dog from the 21st century, yes, but deep inside me, the one who fought, the one who hunted, the one who pulled sleds, the one who guided and protected a herd still lives within.

So think **very** carefully before you choose your dog. And think about getting two, rather than one, so I won't be so very lonely waiting for you all day. Eight or ten hours is just a workday to you, but it's an eternity for me to be alone.

Written by *unknown*

03/29/2025

Over the years I have seen this proven in dogs who have no impulse control! Thanks for sharing Steve White!

There is a question I get asked constantly:

“Bart, should I play fetch with my dog every day? He LOVES it!”

And my answer is always the same:
No. Especially not with working breeds like the Malinois, German Shepherd, Dutch Shepherd, or any other high-prey-drive dog, like hunting dogs, Agility dogs, etc.

This answer is often met with surprise, sometimes with resistance. I get it—your dog brings you the ball, eyes bright, body full of energy, practically begging you to throw it. It feels like bonding. It feels like exercise. It feels like the right thing to do.

But from a scientific, behavioral, and neurobiological perspective—it’s not. In fact, it may be one of the most harmful daily habits for your dog’s mental health and nervous system regulation that no one is warning you about.

Let me break it down for you in detail. This will be long, but if you have a working dog, you need to understand this.

Working dogs like the Malinois and German Shepherd were selected over generations for their intensity, persistence, and drive to engage in behaviors tied to the prey sequence: orient, stalk, chase, grab, bite, kill. In their role as police, protection, herding, or military dogs, these genetically encoded motor patterns are partially utilized—but directed toward human-defined tasks.

Fetch is an artificial mimicry of this prey sequence.
• Ball = prey
• Throwing = movement stimulus
• Chase = reinforcement
• Grab and return = closure and Reward - Reinforecment again.

Every time you throw that ball, you’re not just giving your dog “exercise.” You are triggering an evolutionary motor pattern that was designed to result in the death of prey. But here’s the twist:

The "kill bite" never comes.
There’s no closure. No end. No satisfaction, Except when he start chewing on the ball by himself, which lead to even more problems. So the dog is neurologically left in a state of arousal.

When your dog sees that ball, his brain lights up with dopamine. Anticipation, motivation, drive. When you throw it, adrenaline kicks in. It becomes a cocktail of high arousal and primal intensity.

Dopamine is not the reward chemical—it’s the pursuit chemical. It creates the urge to chase, to repeat the behavior. Adrenaline and cortisol, stress hormones, spike during the chase. Even though the dog “gets the ball,” the biological closure never really happens—because the pattern is reset, again and again, with each throw.

Now imagine doing this every single day.
The dog’s brain begins to wire itself for a constant state of high alert, constantly expecting arousal, movement, and stimulation. This is how we create chronic stress.

The autonomic nervous system has two main branches:

• Sympathetic Nervous System – “Fight, flight, chase”

• Parasympathetic Nervous System – “Rest, digest, recover”

Fetch, as a prey-driven game, stimulates the sympathetic system. The problem? Most owners never help the dog come down from that state.
There’s no decompression, no parasympathetic activation, no transition into rest.

Chronic sympathetic dominance leads to:
• Panting, pacing, inability to settle
• Destructive behaviors
• Hypervigilance
• Reactivity to movement
• Obsession with balls, toys, other dogs
• Poor sleep cycles
• Digestive issues
• A weakened immune system over time
• Behavioral burnout

In essence, we’re creating a dog who is neurologically trapped in the primal mind—always hunting, never resting.

Expectation Is a Form of Pressure!!!!!!

When fetch becomes a daily ritual, your dog begins to expect it.This is no longer “fun.” It’s a conditioned need. And when that need is not met?

Stress. Frustration. Obsession.

A dog who expects to chase every day but doesn’t get it may begin redirecting that drive elsewhere—chasing shadows, lights, children, other dogs, cars.
This is how pathological behavior patterns form.

Many people use fetch as a shortcut for physical exercise.

But movement is not the same as regulation.
Throwing a ball 100 times does not tire out a working dog—it wires him tighter.

What these dogs need is:
• Cognitive engagement
• Problem solving
• Relationship-based training
• Impulse control and on/off switches
• Scentwork or tracking to satisfy the nose-brain connection
• Regulated physical outlets like structured walks, swimming, tug with rules, or balanced sport work
• Recovery time in a calm environment

But What About Drive Fulfillment? Don’t They Need an Outlet?

Yes, and here’s the nuance:

Drive should be fulfilled strategically, not passively or impulsively. This is where real training philosophy comes in.

Instead of free-for-all ball throwing, I recommend:
• Tug with rules of out, impulse control, and handler engagement

• Controlled prey play with a flirt pole, used sparingly

• Engagement-based drive work with clear start and stop signals

• Training sessions that integrate drive, control, and reward

• Activities like search games, mantrailing, or protection sport with balance

• Working on “down in drive” — the ability to switch from arousal to rest

This builds a thinking dog, not a reactive one. The Bottom Line: Just Because He Loves It Doesn’t Mean It’s Good for Him

Your Malinois, German Shepherd, Dutchie, or other working dog may love the ball. He may bring it to you with joy. But the question is not what he likes—it’s what he needs.

A child may love candy every day, but a good parent knows better. As a trainer, handler, and caretaker, it’s your responsibility to think long term.
You’re not raising a dog for this moment. You’re developing a life companion, a regulated athlete, a resilient thinker.

So no—I don’t recommend playing ball every day.
Because every throw is a reinforcement of the primal mind.

And the primal mind, unchecked, cannot be reasoned with. It cannot self-regulate. It becomes a slave to its own instincts.

Train your dog to engage with you, not just the object. Teach arousal with control, play with purpose, and rest with confidence.

Your dog deserves better than obsession.He deserves balance. He deserves you—not just the ball.


Bart De Gols

03/28/2025

Alpha dog training is based on a misunderstanding of canine social groups. Positive reinforcement training based on respect yields better results.

03/28/2025

You do NOT need to induce fear, ever!!!!!

ARE YOU THE THREAT?

This disturbing attention grabbing text is from a video reel and is sadly an increasingly common approach to dog training and behaviour modification.

It is becoming so disheartening to see how increasingly comfortable people are becoming in using threatening or violent behaviour as a means of achieving individual goals, in and out of the context of dog training.

When you see footage that shows correction/punishment and balanced dog training methods appearing to dramatically resolve a dog's undesired and even dangerous behaviour......

❌ It's not because the dog understands that they are 'wrong'.

❌ It's not because the dog has relinquished responsibility to the handler/trainer.

❌ It's not because the communication reminded the dog of their mother disciplining them as a puppy.

❌ It's not because the 'clear communication' is enjoyable, comfortable and reassuring for the dog, somehow.

It's because the dog's priorities have shifted.

Self-preservation always comes up trumps and the dog is trying to stay safe (alive) by doing the behaviour that decreases their perception of a threat.

Whether the dog's undesired behaviour was due to being scared of something (repulsion) or whether they found the undesired behaviour enjoyable (acquisition) makes little difference.

The corrections (that the trainer is in control of) are now the greatest threat.

OR

The cost of trying to access a particular reward now outweighs the benefits.

It doesn't matter if we try and make things nice by offering what we think are enjoyable consequences - when the desired behaviour is offered- the threat is still there.

Perhaps without even realising it, this dog trainer has very nearly summed up what is going on in those 'extreme before and after' videos you might have seen- where 'red zone' dogs are 'fixed' in minutes.

Except the dog DOESN'T 'need' to fear their trainer or the consequences the trainer is in control of.

Nor is correcting undesired behaviour going to STOP a dog being scared of everything else.

The cessitation of undesired behaviour is simply the dog now responding to the threat that is closest - whether that's the trainer next to them or the equipment they are wearing that delivers an unpleasant stimulus.


To understand the dog's experience we should look at what they have to say by observing their body language. Here are some pointers....

😬 Signs of anxiety and fear 😬

Ears pulled back or to the sides, avoiding eye contact, grimace panting, tension in the face and muzzle (often a tightly closed mouth), lowered head, hunched shoulders, rounded top line, tucked or clamped down tail, stiff posture and gait, very slow movement, excessive stillness, lip licking, yawning, absence of sniffing.

🤪 Nuanced signs of anxiety in higher arousal and high 'drive' dogs 🫨

Grimace panting, jerky movements and/or body tension as they try to find or maintain that 'sweet spot' of relief, ear carriage that is frequently changing position, rapid head turns, vigilance, tension in the face, lip licking and facial tension (even if brief) upon initial response to cues.

😃 Signs of being relaxed, feeling joy & positive anticipation 🤩

Loose body movements, a spring in the step, loose tail movements (tail may be raised a little), being able to make eye contact, relaxed engagement with the environment (looking, sniffing) if not being cued to do a specific behaviour, mouth open a little and/or relaxed facial muscles, pricked ears, bright eyes.......

‼️ Be mindful that something in isolation doesn't always tell us much, whereas clusters of signals are more informative. For example, a dog lip licking may not mean they are anxious. Whereas a dog frequently lip licking with their ears pinned back, avoiding eye contact, grimace panting heavily indicates the dog is likely anxious.

If your dog is scared, the key to improving their behaviour is not to be the threat (or in control of it), but to help them feel safe, resilient and optimistic. I personally cannot see how corrections of any kind are going to do that.

Even if your dog ISN'T scared, I still don't advocate training methods that are at risk of creating a pessimistic bias (anxiety) and your dog developing fears - regardless of their problem behaviour.

04/27/2023

TELL ME WHEN I GET IT RIGHT!

Imagine this – You work for someone who continually reprimands you. You never know from one day to the next if there is anything this person is happy with, because the only feedback you receive from them is what you are doing wrong – it’s all just so negative!

You are never thanked for a job well done, never given any positive feedback, recognition or encouragement.

This leaves you feeling demotivated, confused, insecure and unhappy. You have no idea what this person really expects of you or wants from you.

Surely you must be doing something right, some of the time? If only you had more feedback about what that was – you could do more of that and you would both be in a happier place.

We often treat our dogs this way, only focusing or providing feedback on the “wrong” behaviour and neglecting to provide feedback and encouragement for the “right” behaviour.

Rewarding, reinforcing and encouraging a dog for whatever they are doing right is an effective, scientifically proven way to communicate, teach, create trust, build confidence, security and build a strong bond in a positive, force-free way.

Just like us, when a dog does something that results in something good happening, they’re far more likely to keep repeating that behaviour.

Reinforcement or rewards don’t always have to be food or treats – it all depends on what that particular dog finds more rewarding – lots of praise, a favourite toy, playing a game or anything else a dog really enjoys can be rewarding.

Keep telling your dog when they get it right and very soon, they will be doing less of the wrong thing and more of the right thing.

Stop focusing on the unwanted behaviour and communicate to your dog that they are getting it right by rewarding the behaviour you are looking for.

01/17/2023

Learning that your dog cannot be left alone for separation anxiety training can be overwhelming, but there are solutions. Crowdsourcing can be the answer.