By Danielle Basciano, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA, ACDBC
Certified Professional Dog Trainer & Behavior Consultant
President, PAWS of CNY
Growing up we are taught that if something makes us uncomfortable, we have the right to say no. Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt uneasy or even threatened by someone invading your personal space? Likely your first instinct would be to increase distance by backing up. Maintaining personal space is so much the social norm that if a stranger were to run up to you at a park and throw his/her arms around you it wouldn’t be considered unusual if you were to scream out in alarm. More so if that stranger was much larger than you. Taking it up a notch, I can think of countless people who carry instruments of protection for events like these. Violence, to a degree, is considered acceptable by society in the face of a true threat.
So why is it, that when we are out in public with our dogs, we expect them to tolerate the very thing we have been taught to fight against? Not only do we expect our dogs to endure touching and hugging from strangers but we are utterly aghast if the dog tries to pull away or worse yet, growls and/or snaps.
Animal welfare is defined by the Five Freedoms:
- Freedom from Hunger and Thirst
- Freedom from Discomfort
- Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease
- Freedom to Express Normal Behavior
- Freedom from Fear and Distress
When we subject an animal to forced handling or an interaction that the animal does not want, we violate several of these freedoms, depending on the nature of that interaction.
How does this tie into pet therapy? A few months ago I attended a seminar on assessment and suitability in animal assisted therapy. Dr. Kirby Wycoff, a psychologist who focuses on human-animal interactions and Suzanne Clothier, a world renowned trainer, spent much of the weekend discussing the ethics surrounding this growing field. One discussion that really hit home for me revolved around the fact that our pets do not choose this line of work. We choose it for them. We all know this, of course, but when you take the time to really think about what that means in terms of animal welfare, it gives you a different perspective as to what our animals are actually experiencing during a pet visit.
Research and personal experiences leave no doubt that interactions between humans and animals in a therapeutic setting result in countless benefits, at least for one side of the bond. What about the other? We have a big responsibility here. Since we choose to bring our pets into this setting, it is up to us to make sure that we minimize stress and make the experience as positive as possible. To do that we need to have a really good understanding of what stress looks like. So much of what our pets communicate is accomplished through very subtle body language displays and it is not uncommon for humans to interpret these cues incorrectly or miss them entirely. When that happens in a pet therapy setting, there is so much at risk. When our pet is uncomfortable in a given situation and cannot make the choice to leave we risk the potential for that pet to escalate warning displays and to move into fight or flight. We risk creating negative associations with unfamiliar people so that all unfamiliar people are viewed as unpleasant. We risk exposing our pet to constant stress which in turn decreases our pet’s quality of physical and behavioral health. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
One of the biggest gifts we can give to our pets is to take the time to learn how to really listen to what they are saying and to be an advocate for them when they need it. We’re all here because we love our pets and want to share that love with members of our community. Let’s give our pets the right to say no. It’s the least we can do when they give us so much in return.
In addition to providing education on dog body language in our classes and orientations, we are going to be running a series of articles in our quarterly newsletters. If you would like to learn more about animal communication and body language now, contact us for a list of resources.