EXAMPLE: As your dog pulls, you pull back. Now you are both pulling. Next, you get frustrated and mad.
Then ALLELOMIMETIC BEHAVIOR COMES INTO THE PICTURE, and your dog copies your actions and attitudes and gets frustrated and mad.
What may have started out as a nice walk could soon become a tense, frustration situation.
This anxiety, with out a vent or release mechanism, continues long afterward.
SOLUTION: Don’t allow pulling. When your dog pulls, just say “no”, relieve the tension on the leash and praise immediately.
Do this consistently. We have just a split second to praise him after telling him “no”, or else the message will not get across.
Pulling on the leash, even as little as one pound of pressure per square inch, for just a second and a half is enough to trigger the opposition reflex. That’s just one small example.
Here’s the real story on POSITIVE THIGMOTAXIS, the OPPOSITION REFLEX.
ANY PULLING OR~EVEN~SLIGHT TENSION on your dogs collar, or PUSHING OR-PULLING ON HIS BODY can SHUT OFF his ability to think and or listen to you, even while praising him.
Like when you might ask him to sit, and then reach back to place him, he may just stop going into position.
Look at it like this: Your’ dogs first obligation is to oppose you.
It’s built in. Once he understands the object of your desire, forget it! He is naturally obligated to do EXACTLY OPPOSITE…. - Physical opposition, say as you reach for his collar while greeting a guest at the door, will cause exactly the behavior you wanted to avoid.
Next, as he becomes familiar with your hand coming out to restrain him, he consciously goes faster to avoid being restrained. Physical opposition, as you try to prevent jumping or bolting, or even vocal opposition as you shout to prevent whining or barking or fighting, can trigger the opposition reflex, compelling the undesirable behavior to begin. In just moments your dog can learn to out-maneuver you.
This physical opposition soon becomes a mental opposition. Learn to control without restraint or confronting. Forced restraint, or forced control will always defeat its own purpose.
It’s like trying to grab a handful of water… Try to grab a fistful of water, and all you will get is a wet hand.
Scoop gently, and you could empty the whole basin.
Vocal opposition, or shouting, needs further mention.
We see this quite often, especially when people try to prevent fighting or aggression.
The first thing they usually do is express panic by screaming. Just think of how your dog might copy this.