It can be quite hard for us to understand the thought process in a dog’s head because we use totally different languages and we have very different goals in life.

Some people believe dogs look only as far as their next meal or the next power nap and whatever happens after is just in the moment. Is that right or is it just our ration­alisation because we cannot truly comprehend what life is like for a dog?

Traumatised dogs carry the past with them

If you’ve gone through the motions of training your dog at home and are now moving your training to the streets, you’ve probably realised that dogs often forego one reward for another larger benefit in the future, such as sniffing the morning bulletin of who has peed here before.

In reality, anyone who has worked with a dog that was traumatised will tell you they carry the past with them. They don’t just live in the moment and they do form life scripts which will dictate whether they are optimists or pessimists.

That, in turn, will dictate whether the dog tries new behaviours or not. A dog that has been trained with rewards knows the worst that can happen is that he won’t get a reward, but trying something else just might work.

On the other hand, a dog trained with punishment and coercion knows that getting it wrong will have a bad consequence every time, so he will be less likely to try new behaviours; and we all know that doing nothing is the opposite of learning new things.

Adopting the ‘glass half empty’ philosophy is a horrible place to be for a dog. Dogs are meant to be happy-go-lucky companions that enjoy everything in life, not a pile of fur sitting quietly in a corner to avoid punishment.

Cowering away in the corner might not be bad behaviour, but it is dangerous. It is the pessimists that are more likely to interpret you as dangerous and try to lash out. The good thing is that they are not born with a life script; they learn it through experience so we can turn them into optimists.

Having a caring, healthy and well-tempered mother is a good start.

A rich environment growing up, an extensive social group, lots of love and kind, humane teaching methods and unconditional love are the foundation of a well-adjusted individual, be it canine or human.

The alternative is too depressing to discuss, but if you would like to raise a puppy that is ‘glass half full’ and willing to learn, then you want a Puppy Plan graduate and you will want to use a clicker to train him while he grows.

Dogs Trust Malta is committed to distributing such information and helping with neutering and micro-chipping dogs too.

Visit www.dogtrainingmadeeasy.org to learn more about the Puppy Plan and humane dog training and order a free clicker. Call 2142 1500 or 7771 1100 to find out if you can benefit from our ongoing free neutering and chipping offer and whether your vet is subscribed to this scheme.

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