My dogs are not inclined to run hog-wild around the house.
I believe that it’s because I work hard to make myself the moose that attracts their emotions, and therefore I’m able to help them bring the fear they have accumulated just by virtue of day-to-day living, to the surface, so that it can now become useful energy.
I accomplish this through games that engage their prey drive and urge to hunt, like tug of war, and hide and go find.
Once the fear energy is under control they can use it to connect with me in a meaningful way.
For example, when we take walks through the woods, play tug of war, hide and seek, and other useful avenues of co-operation, like herding and hunting.
Some people mistakenly think this seemingly out of the blue behavior is humorous, and reinforce their dogs fear by chasing them around in a game of sorts,.. thus bringing that initially invisible threat that set them off in the first place,.. into reality.
For most people this is something they will regret doing later on.
Even though my dogs don’ t behave in this hectic, bouncing off the walls way..I have rescued a few dogs that did.
I always thought it was about the stress and confusion of the new environment, memories of past life experiences, and having to deal with my dogs exuberant social behavior.
I was aware of the “fear factor”, because I observed the way they hauled their buts in low to the ground when they ran in random zig- zagging geometric patterns, as if to protect it from getting bitten by what ever was chasing them in their mind.
I gave it very little thought because after a few days of bonding, ie, walks in the woods, and playing games designed to engage prey drive.
The crazy hog-wild running around just disappeared.
There is only one down side to my dogs not running hog-wild around the house..I don’t have a video to show you..but thankfully there is YouTube.
I found this short video that shows the behavior I am talking about..and you will see the person with the camera is under the false impression that this is funny, and inadvertently reinforces the dogs fear by chasing him around trying to film the action.
This person doesn’t understand that the dog is trying to connect with him, but don’t know how.
If you have questions about this post or anything that is on your mind , I would love to hear from you, leaving a comment here is a good place to start.
All the best,
Harley
Resource: Natural Dog Training.com
river valley dog training 