How Dogs Deal with Stress

     Having problems with your best friend? Many times understanding how they see the world and how they deal with stress can make a world of difference.
Dogs deal with stress four ways. 1. Avoid,  2. Flight,  3. Fight, and 4. Submit. These are the only options for the dog. For instance, if you're walking down the street and a dog is coming toward you he may go between houses. That is avoidance. He see you, but is not sure who or what you're about. You may be danger so he's thinking, "I'll just go this way and avoid the situation."
     So the dog goes between houses and you do too. You meet at the back of the house and suddenly, there you are. He can't avoid you for you're standing right in front of him, so the dog runs away. He chose flight.  
     Now let's say that before you got to the back of the house, the dog went into your garage through an open door. You step into the doorway, and there is the dog looking at you. He can't avoid, he can't take flight, for you are blocking the only way out, so he only has two other options. Fight, by growling, hackeling up, he may try to bite or he may choose to submit by lowering his head, lowering his tail or showing other behaviors of submission. All dogs are different and depending on their genetic makeup will choose the stress response they need to survive.
     So how does this apply to training? Be careful when correcting not to put the dog in flight, don't put so much stress on the dog that it goes into fight mode. Use praise, motivation, and correction properly, and you will see results. Look forward to hearing from you and please visit http://www.shannondogtraining.com/ .