THREATENING TO THE DOG'S SAFETY
(Part of the Memory flow chart of the DOG-GAMES website)
The dog's brain assesses the event or experience to see if it
endangers the dog's well-being and safety.
For instance in the wild, young small wild animals learn to run
and hide when they -
- see a bird-of-prey's shadow on the ground
- detect any sudden movement or vibration in their environment
- smell a predator's scent on the wind
- hear movement in the undergrowth.
This is Nature's way of helping animals recognise and avoid threatening experiences. This instinctive ability to assess what is happening around it is still very strong in the domestic dog's brain.
Causes of Stress give many examples of situations that dogs find difficult to cope with.
Stress itself can have a profound effect on how dogs perceive the environment around them. Their high levels of adrenalin heighten their senses so that they become over-reactive and oversensitive to what is happening. These stressed dogs are more likely to assess situations as being threatening and unpleasant, which they would not do if they were calm and focused.
A dog will also perceive an Event as being threatening if it triggers an environmental photo of similar past occurrences.
VERY UNPLEASANT
If the dog's brain assesses that the Event is very unpleasant, the
dog will make an environmental photo of what its senses have
detected and store it in the dog's long-term memory.
UNPLEASANT + SHORT-TERM MEMORY
If the Event is only slightly unpleasant the dog will store the
experience in its short-term memory (which is only a couple of
days, or a week, at the most). If the dog does not come across a
similar Event in that period of time the experience will be
forgotten. For instance, a dog is attacked by a black dog while
walking on a lead (which means it has no chance to escape the
situation and be able to use calming signals
to resolve the conflict). If in the next few days the dog goes to
the same location and meets other black dogs that are friendly and
non-aggressive it will soon forget the incident.
However, if the unpleasant experience is repeated (often just one more repetition can reinforce the problem) the dog will then perceive the Event as being very unpleasant and store it in its long-term memory. For instance, the dog will generalise that ALL black dogs are threatening and become defensive and aggressive with any black dog it meets while on a lead, and perhaps even off lead as well.
| Young or adolescent dogs are particularly susceptible to these negative assessments which can become very strong long-term memories for the rest of the dog's life. |
The Material contained herein may not be reproduced
without the prior written approval of Dog Games Ltd.
© 2000-2005 All Rights Reserved.