It can be difficult to train your dog to behave but do not let your negative emotions get the best of you.
According to a heartbreaking study, yelling at your dog “can have long-term negative effects on dog’s mental state.”
The study was shared on bioRxiv recruited 92 pet dogs – 50 from aversive-based training schools and 42 from reward-based training schools. It was led by biologist Ana Catarina Vieira de Castro from the Universidade do Porto in Portugal.
The pooches underwent a long-term assessment and a short-term assessment.
For the short-term assessment, the dogs were recorded for 3 of their training sessions. Each had 6 saliva samples to measure the levels of cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone. Researchers also observed the training session video for dogs’ mood and stress-related behaviors.
According to the results, canines who went through aversive-training show more stress-related behaviors – yawning and lip-licking. They also have higher levels of cortisol even at home than canines who went through reward-based training.
For the long-term assessment, researchers set bowls with a sausage snack inside down on the side of the room and empty bowls that only smelled like sausage on other areas.
72 dogs were taught how to associate the bowl with the real snack to see how long it would take them to learn where they could expect the sausages.
Results showed that dogs who underwent reward-based training figured out which bowls had the sausage faster and more curious than canines who underwent aversive-training, who were hesitant to explore.
The researchers wrote in their paper: “Our study points to the fact that the welfare of companion dogs trained with aversive-based methods appears to be at risk.”
The added: “These findings indicate that the use of aversive-based methods compromises the welfare of companion dogs in both the short and long term.”
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