Most likely, at least once you have lost your temper and yelled at your dog, even though you were well aware that it was hurting the innocent creature. Everyone loses their temper. However, a new study shows that we should do everything we can to prevent this from happening.
After analyzing over 90 dogs, a team from the University of Porto discovered that yelling can have lasting negative effects on the animals’ mental state. Although they sometimes make whites, dogs are some of the most good-natured creatures and they don’t deserve this.
A concise answer to the question, why you should never yell at your dog:
The scientists, led by Dr. Ana Catarina Vieira de Castro, conducted their study on service dogs to determine whether yelling and mistreatment of dogs had a negative effect on them.
To do this, they selected 92 companion dogs and divided them into 2 groups: those trained using reward-based methods, such as games and treats, and those trained using more aggressive methods, such as yelling or pulling on the leash.
The test measures signs of nervousness in dogs.
The scientists set out to observe the behavior of the animals during training, both in positive and negative groups. In this way, they could detect the signs of stress in dogs such as yawning, leg lifting, licking, as well as the level of relaxation.
In addition, they took saliva samples from the dogs in both groups to identify chemicals associated with anxiety and nervousness, such as cortisol. Using these samples, they were able to calculate the stress level of the dogs in the two groups. Not surprisingly, the dogs that were trained with punishment and yelling had higher levels of stress than those in the other group, but the findings of the study went further.
The results are not surprising, but the consequences are.
A month later, the researchers visited the dogs to observe the extent of the impact their type of training had had on them.
According to the researchers, training with treats and rewards has a much more long-term effect than that with yelling and aggression. The stress dogs are subjected to during training remains in the long term
“Our results show that companion dogs that have been trained using harsher methods have poorer welfare than companion dogs trained using reward-based methods, both in the short-term and in the long-term.”
The dogs in the first group were more stable, calm and positive, while the dogs in the second group showed higher levels of cortisol, stress and negativity, which had a detrimental effect on their well-being that lasted for weeks or even longer.
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