Years ago, I was in an agility class with my golden retriever, Winston. He had just completed a very good “dog walk” exercise, something with which he’d been struggling for weeks. He came up to me, wagging his tail and seeming very pleased with himself. I said happily, “Oh, Winston, you were so brave!” I was very proud of him for overcoming his fears.
“Don’t tell him he was brave,” the instructor interrupted sternly. “He’ll think there was something to be afraid about!”
I considered that statement then, and I consider it now. It still makes no sense to me.
Dogs, cats, horses, and other animals—except apes and monkeys who have learned ASL (American Sign Language) or a signing alternative—have no means to comprehend the dictionary meanings of words in any human language. There is no possible way that my dog, however intelligent he was, could understand that “brave” meant there was something to be afraid about. No chance.
Your dog may well understand that the word “walk” means “we’re going for a walk,” but he will not understand that “I’ve broken my leg” means “I can’t take you for a walk.”
He may grab his leash off its shelf, prance to the front door with said leash in his mouth, jump up and down there until you notice him . . . and yes, your dog is saying, “I want to go on a walk.” Hobble up to him on your crutches and tell him, “I’ve got a broken leg!” Your dog will respond by continuing to jump up and down with his leash in his mouth, asking for a walk. You could say, “There’s lava running in the street!” and your dog still wouldn’t give up trying, hoping you’ll put his leash on him and take him out.
Your pet is simply not capable of comprehending specific words or phrases unless you first teach him what those words or phrases mean to him. You could, if you wanted, teach him that the word “sit” means to lie down and that “down” means to sit. (Why you would want to do that, I don’t know, but you certainly could.)
Why do many police dog handlers use foreign words, not in English, as commands? To start with, those may well be the words with which the dogs were originally trained, in another country, because many police dogs are imported. But in addition to not having to retrain commands, K-9 officers may well appreciate the “code” of foreign words because the suspects they chase won’t comprehend those words. That gives the K-9s a distinct advantage.
Pets understand our physical movements much more easily than they understand our words. They also learn, instinctively, to interpret our vocalizations—our tone of voice, its loudness, its sharpness, its sadness or happiness. They soon do it speedily and with ease. For them, it’s a matter of survival.
A puppy sees an angry human face, a human hand that swings and hits him? It doesn’t take many repetitions of that behavior for the puppy to know that angry face and swinging hand means unsafe for him. How he reacts to that information is a matter of temperament and, eventually, experience. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if a puppy learned quickly that an angry face and a swinging hand means “bite the hand before it hurts you” or “run away fast” or “give up.”
When I trained hearing dogs—assistance dogs for the deaf or hearing-impaired—the dogs we worked with were all from animal shelters. They were young (if they succeeded in their training, we wanted them to have a good chance at a long life of service) but full-grown (size mattered). Because of that, they often had a year to three years of life experience before we took them into the program. Part of the training of these dogs was to get them used to being in a loud household. Although it seems almost counterintuitive, the living quarters of deaf or hearing-impaired persons are usually not very quiet!
Few of the dogs we worked with were used to living in loud circumstances. Most of them initially figured that “loud” translated to “not safe.” And who could blame them? Our job was to convince the trainees that “loud” did not mean “unsafe.” ”Loud” meant “normal,” and “normal” meant—if we did our job well and they were apt students—“safe.”
It wasn’t an easy task! You don’t flood an uncertain dog with sound, for example, then stand by for the dog to get used to it . . . no more than you would take your baby to their first loud concert without ear protection and an exit plan. It wouldn’t be humane.
Instead, you train the dog to acclimate to sound by starting that sound at a very low level and pairing it with something very rewarding going on for the dog.
For example, if your dog is upset when you play loud music in your home, start by playing very, very quiet music in another room while you are doing something fun with the dog some distance away. Depending on your dog’s reaction, you stay at that low level for as long as necessary to get your dog used to it and comfortable, then increase the sound slightly, decrease the distance slightly, and so on, always going a few steps back to a lower level if your dog shows stress.
As with all training, it takes time, effort, and patience. But you knew that!
I live in a country that has been experiencing some real angst lately. (You knew that, too, I bet!) I have read enough Facebook posts from friends in other countries to know that even outside of the United States, our recent presidential election has caused no end of upset and high emotion to the humans of this planet.
Now, I am not here to discuss the election, I am here to discuss pets. But I can guarantee from what I’ve read that it’s not just the humans on Earth who have been affected by this election. It’s affected our pets, too.
And why wouldn’t it? Imagine how they might see it. Everything was normal until one day, my human was watching TV and he got really, really mad. I ran out of the room when he started yelling because I thought, ‘What did I do now?’ Later, my other human found me and started crying. I can’t run away from crying because crying means she’s sad. I don’t know what to do!
I’m not suggesting that you repress your emotions around your pets. I am suggesting that you consider how these important family members interpret those emotions.
Pay attention to your pets, especially when emotions run high. Any emotion, from happiness to anger to grief, may adversely affect your pets if they are not accustomed to your experiencing these emotions when you are with them. Until pets have seen you happy, mad, sad, they have no way to translate how your emotions affect their safety. Even happy tears might make them nervous.
If your pets are now, for the first time in their lives, seeing a dynamic range of emotions from you, it’s nobody’s fault (you don’t exactly train for election results), but it should be dealt with as sensitively as you deal with your children’s reactions to exactly the same situation. Kids first, then pets.
Are they fearful? Kids need explanations, pets do not. Whatever the reason for their fear, even if it’s just raised voices in front of the TV, fearful pets need to feel safe, Do what you can. It’s okay to reassure a fearful pet. It is not going to make them more fearful!
Reduce their stress in the ways you know how: crate them away from the raised voices, take them for a walk, throw the ball in your back yard, go for a ride in the car. Take the focus off the stressful triggers, whatever they may be. Should you decide your pet’s level of stress is serious enough that you can’t defuse it alone, make an appointment with your veterinarian to discuss alternatives; that could include medication, even if it’s only temporary.
Are the pets overexcited, hyper, uncontrollable? Wear them out physically with exercise; wear them out mentally with food puzzles, hide and seek, recall games. Pay more attention to the pets than you’re paying to the TV or laptop. Offer outlets for activity and interaction with human family members. It’s not a good idea to ignore your pet when he is already acting out!
Are the pets overwhelmed? That’s not surprising—many of us are! Turn off the TV, the laptop, the radio. Put on some calming music, if your pet might enjoy it (yes, calming music specifically for pets does exist), or even an audiobook. Lie down with your pet somewhere you can comfort each other. We know that pets can lower our blood pressure and that snuggling with a pet can make us feel better, so why not? Do it for your pet and, who knows, you might find it works for you, too!
You can’t explain in words to your pet that everything is going to be all right. You don’t have the words and they don’t have the ability to comprehend the explanation. Pets live in the here and now. They feel safe or unsafe in the moment. You and I may be confident that raised voices in front of the TV aren’t a threat to our safety, but there’s no way you can tell that to your pet and be believed. Instead, it’s your responsibility to do what the captain says on Star Trek: make it so.
What are you teaching your pet by noticing their reactions to your behavior and responding accordingly, by putting them under no more stress than they can handle, by spending time with them away from the triggers that upset both pets and humans, by comforting them and letting them comfort you?
You’re teaching your pet that you will do what’s necessary to keep that pet’s environment as friendly, as encouraging, as positive as possible. You’re teaching your pet that being with you is safe.
It’s the best gift we can give them, for all that they give us.
