C is for Connection

The human dog dyad goes back a long way and may have begun 15 to 40,000 years ago (Savolainen et al., 2002). Dogs are equipped with incredible skills to understand human emotions, gestures, and actions. They form a co-operative team with us, they engage with us as communicative partners, and they have been enculturated in our society and are clearly part of our social game.

In addition to the duty to ensure our dogs flourish in our care, there is also an additional duty that emerges from the special relationship that we have towards dogs, and from the specific way in which dogs perceive us. Affiliation plays a motivational role in dog behaviour and shapes a dogs’ attitude as well as their interaction with humans. We should invest in building relationships of trust with dogs. Quite simply we must train without pain, fear or coercion so that our relationship and connection with our dogs is one of trust!

As Suzanne Clothier says “Connection is about two minds working together. If the connection is not there between you and your dog you will be unable to direct him, help him or train him.”

 

References:

Hiby, Elly & Rooney, Nicola & Bradshaw, J. (2004). Dog training methods: Their use, effectiveness and interaction with behaviour and welfare. Animal Welfare. 13. 63-69..

Benz-Schwarzburg Judith, Monsó Susana, Huber Ludwig (2020) How Dogs Perceive Humans and How Humans Should Treat Their Pet Dogs: Linking Cognition With Ethics Frontiers in Psychology, volume 11