Animal emotions – happier animals, better relationships

 

This page contained a short, free training series that sparked a lot of interest – thank you everyone for participating, discussing and sharing!

It was accessible for about a week until Thursday Nov 10th 2016 at midnight CET.

If you arrived here after the clock struck twelve, I’m really sorry.

If you want to see what the fuss was all about, I am offering that short training series for a nominal fee. You can access the first part, for free, by signing up below – and I’ll send you an invitation to access the rest.

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60 replies on “
Animal emotions – happier animals, better relationships”

Thank you for sharing these insightful videos. Your teaching style is accessible and compelling, and the content is , so far, unique amongst animal training videos in my experience.
I believe that emtional welfare is equally as important as physical welfare and I hope to take your course.

Dear Karolina

Thank tou so much for the great videos. I have a shelter to help abandoned dogs and I use this as a base for my work with the animals. I have happier dogs in the shelter and that easily integrate in a home when they are adopted. If you want you can see videos in the shelter in http://www.facebook.com/animaisbarcelos. Thank you so much for sharing this and for contributing for happier animals and happier people 🙂

These are fabulous videos Karolina – educative , enlightening & thought provoking – so clearly explained ! I have another perspective on interacting with my three horses , one of whom ( 19 years)I have had for a relatively short time ( three years ) & the others all their life (the oldest one is 29 , the youngest 9- the old mare is the mother of younger one )
So the 19 year old had a difficult life before I had her – & has shown aggressive , defensive distrustful behaviour all the time – & as they live in a herd outside 24/7 & are fed ( in a bowl !!! ) once a day , will show very resource guarding behaviour around food – & generally ” bullying ” behaviour towards the other two ! That also show up when I am just hanging out in the field with them – she will try to ” herd ” the other two away from me if they pay me attention & clearly want to interact with me – but she also becomes VERY distressed if separated from them – even for a very short time !!!!
Do you have any suggestions ?? Thank you ! I think your course could help !!!

Thank you Judy, I’m glad you’re finding them useful! The situation you describe is difficult to comment on without knowing more… But it sounds like a situation with increased arousal (emotional upheaval) and learning components – I would consider the problem from both of these angles to try to come to terms with what’s going on and which approach would be the most helpful. SOmetimes it’s hard for animals to learn when they’re distraught, so training must occur when they’re calmer. Also, you’re describing two different situations and I would approach them one at a time. What if you change feeding routines? Horses graze for on average 16 hours a day if I’m not mistaken so being fed once a day and having to compete for food could be a major stressor. I’d look into low quality browse that they can have access to for longer hours, and also scatter feed or provide it in several locations. Visual barriers sometimes works. I don’t know horses but with the primates I’ve worked with we train something called cooperative feeding where they learn that allowing someone else to access tidbits or affection will lead to reinforcement. Maybe you could look into that, too!

Dear Karolina,
thank you for this inspiring and very useful video. I hope many pet owners will watch it and follow your advice. It is especially important in my wold of dog training and -behaviour. There are just too many concepts around that poison the relationship and keep the owners from doing what is best for them and their beloved canine family member.
Thanks again
Rolf
Germany

Dear Rolf, thanks for the feedback. Not being a dog owner myself it’s hard to know about all the misconceptions out there – I understand from you dog pros that there are many!

Since starting to use this in all my interactions with my horse he has started to act remakably like a dog 🙂 it finally feels like training is something he would choose to do <3
This is truly something every animal owner should learn.

Wonderful – I’m so glad you’re finding this useful – and that your horse does, too! 🙂

WOW – love love love!!
Thanks for sharing your exciting knowledge with us – will tense follow your Blog in the future – Fun to read about the black and yellow umbrellas such a good picture for those of us who are visual and I have had exactly the same thoughts about Cesar Millan, however, without knowing the chemistry behind the effects of posture – thanks again for sharing 🙂

🙂 Glad you like the stuff that I put out there – and thanks for telling me!

I’m really enjoying this series. I have horses and dogs and there are many similarities in their body language and behaviours but generally people treat them differently. Imlearning from lots of different avenues and find the theory mixed with practical is working for me. it’s helping to make it all come together and make sense. The dogs are loving the change with use of play and in letting them dictate when and where they choose to be touched. Still a way to go with the horses but really valuable lessons. Thankyou!

April, glad you like these videos and that you actually put their content to use – and see the effects, too! That may just have made my day.
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Thank you so much for these videoes – have seen 1 and 2. It gave me an understanding on why I can remove the anxiety in my old dog with bad hearing when I play with her.

I have a question which has puzzled me for many years now. I owe two dogs which were terrible afraid when I got them (border collies, bred as working dogs – one from Wales and one from Ireland (I live in Denmark). After they started trusting me, they licked and licked me when we had a cosy quiet moment together. I pet them, they lick me back. With one of them I thought she got ‘high’ when licking me 🙂 Is that care behaviour? why do they do it – my other border collies doesn’t

I’ve shared your videos on my fb-profile where I have many dogs, cats and horses friends.

Excuse my poor english – hope it understandable 🙂

I have always been fascinated by the way my little, old guy here licks my hand when I do his favorite chest scratching, and none of the ordinary explanations seem to quite fit. He is one of the boldest, most dominant, confident dog I have ever owned, and is very much his own master. He licks my hand, looking me in the eyes, almost as if this is… his way of taking control back, like a show of possession. He will do this to others to, particularly men which are the ones he is interested to make an impression on.

Sometimes we shape odd behaviours by reinforcing them – it could be that he has gotten a lot of attention for licking, too!

Hi I love this series it is so accessible and enjoyable. I am currently working with two traumatised rescue horses they are approximately 8 and 28 years old respectively. As they are mares and a little older I have introduced a single novel object to encourage seeking and investigatory behaviour as opposed to play given that being older and mares they would play less than geldings or stallions. Thank you again

Jessie, good point. In most species, it’s the young that play, dogs being one exception (play retained in adults). In horses, play in adults has been suggested to be a coping mechanism in stressful situations…

Wonderful videos – I watch them with big interest. I am also looking forward to see you in Denmark come spring. I an quite curious about epigenetic, what are your thoughts about that? In this video they suggest the main issue to be a question of witch genes are activated ? The nature or nurture discussion? Would love to hear your thoughts.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVKYVNfIWp8
best regards rio

Very interesting tweak, I hadn’t heard about that particular study.

It seems the nature-nurture debate is somewhat dead: it’s not either, it’s both. Natural selection provides us with genes, but then those genes are exposed to the environment, which in turn determines how they’re expressed. Fascinating stuff!

Your comments about “seeking” (third video) help me to understand why my dog is so much calmer and less reactive on walks when I use a 15-foot leash. He has the freedom to explore interesting smells, to poke his nose into bushes, to wander off the path a little bit. We may not walk as far or as fast, but it’s more HIS walk, and clearly more enjoyable for him. Thank you for another great video!

These videos are amazing! I have a 9 year old dog that I used to have a really great relationship with, don’t get me wrong it’s still good, but I got really sick about 4 years ago and have not had the same energy to do all the fun stuff we used to do. I have now started to get better and have realised that we are not as close as we used to be, and that I haven’t been that fun to be with. I was a little lost about what to do to change this and I feel like these videos gave me really good ideas and I belive alot of play and cuddling is in our future!

And another plus, as someone really interested in ethology, this is a topic I find really fascinating and necessary. Especially since so many people simply don’t belive animals have feelings at all.

Johanna, thanks for sharing your reflections. I think you’ll find that your dog is forgiving and that you’ll find your way back to the bond you once shared! Good luck!

Once again your video got me thinking. I do often wonder why, with my cockatoos, play diminishes as they approach adulthood? When I say play here I mean playing amongst themselves and with their environment. It seems when they reach sexual maturity, they seem to look at life more seriously. Play does not completely disappear, however, but is certainly greatly reduced.

Fascinating subject that elicits more questions than answers for me. Play could be a course all unto itself. Thanks, Karolina.

That is very common – great observation! In most animal species, play diminishes as the animal reaches adulthood – apparently we’ve bred that trait out of dogs; one of the few exceptions. Wolf pups play, adults hardly don’t.

I really enjoyed video and as my dog was by my side I decided to stroke her where I thought she liked best…and then waited for the consent test. She moved her ‘bum’ around so I could get a better angle 🙂
She loves her cuddly toys and has a basket of them. Bedtime for all of has to be accompanied by Teala being asked to get a toy, she chooses and there is a fun five minutes of her taking the toy first to my hubby then running down the corridor; then toy to me. She always gives it to you to give back to her. She then settles down with that toy for the night.
I’ve shared the link with friends on Facebook and with people that are studying on a dog training course. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

Wow! Loved the video on Play too 🙂
My dog bounces around when he is playing, he wriggles, he grins, he is joyful!
He used to be very reactive with other dogs. At the dog park he was not interested in food when he saw another dog. So, I took tennis balls in my pocket. As soon as another dog appeared in the distance I would take out the tennis balls and start throwing them for him. (We were quite a way away from the other dog/s). Once the dog/s had passed I swapped the ball for a treat and we continued on our walk. This was repeated for every sighting of other dogs. After some time if my dog saw another dog he would turn and run to me because that meant the tennis ball would come out! Eventually we were able to go amongst the other dogs. My dog approached them now with curiosity and relaxed body rather than slowly with tense body. Power of play!

What a wonderful procedure – thanks for sharing! Counter conditioning can be such a powerful tool! 🙂

I just listened to your second video on play – and oh, how I love it :o). Your points are great and they support the notion that play is an extremely important “tool” in both training and in our social relationship with our animals. It also completely refutes the notion that play might cause problems in the dog-human relationship. As a dog trainer I use play as a reinforcer and I also find that the dogs just loooove it.
My three dogs play with each other even though there is a great age difference between them. I have two older beagles and a young working kelpie. Their play primarily consists of chase behavior interspersed with breaks where new bouts of chasing is invited by either party.
Thank you for sharing :o)

Thank YOU for sharing! It’s always great to get such a visual image of what it might look like in the real world..! 🙂

Thanks for another great video! My young rat males are quite playful. Especially one of them. When in the right mood he follows my hand around and then we take turns “attacking” each other. I kind of wrestles him with my hand and sometimes I put him on his back and tickles his belly. Other times he is on top of my hand and win the match. Sometimes he initiates playtime by softly biting my toes. I love the fact that rats actually laugh when tickled but hate the fact that I can’t hear it, it would be wonderful to hear their chatter.

Great information nicely presented, easy to watch and easy to remember! In all the years as a vet nurse and doing a two year Equine Science course, nobody ever mentioned the seven core emotions, I hope that is going to chance one day.. for our animals…
As a horse person I slightly envy my fellow dog peeps when it comes to the term “play” 🙂 and reinforcing with play .. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your knowldege Karolina!

Anita, I understand your envy… perhaps some object play? YOu would be part of the context where play occurred even if it’s not social play, so it would mean that some of the place preference would rub off on you. In other words, as long as you’re present when play occurs, and the animal notices, that should influence your relationship in a good way.
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Karolyn , super ‘ play ‘ video idea.
It corresponds with an article in a psychology magazine that tested Labradors in learning something new and retaining it.
The Labradors that were played with after a training session retained 40% more than the Labradors that were not played with.
Wouldn’t it be interesting what result play before and after a training session would be?
Thanks for sharing.

That’s a very fascinating study, thanks for bringing it here! 🙂 and yes, that would be interesting!

I loved this and it goes really well with the consent to pet video and other info I give my clients. One question though. Is CRF Cortisol Releasing Factor? I’m not familiar with that acronym.

Thanks! It’s Corticotropin-releasing factor. It’s a neurotransmitter (so, active in the brain) and causes a cascade reaction that leads to a release of cortisol in the end (which is a hormone). Among other effects…

Love the consent test idea. I’ve been spreading the word about this to my dog training students. I’m all about improving relationships with people and their dogs. Thanks for the wonderful talk! Looking forward to the rest of your videos.

Fantastic first video, very insightful and practical. It took many sessions and patience getting my rescue dog to accept touch massages but by respecting his signals and learning were and how, he now loves it and has learned to trust me.

Glad to hear that! Yes, I tried to keep it practical rather than dive into theory for this training series.

Excellent video. Two important nuggets for me:
(1) The link between grief and care
(2) How you cannot touch ‘spoil’ a young animal enough

Question: Do you think that touch could help with separation anxiety as a component of a more complex protocol? E.g. Has anyone checked what happens if a dog with mild SA receives a calming massage for 10 minutes before the owner leaves? Does it exacerbate/improve/make no difference to the animal’s emotional state when being left alone?

Shlomit, excellent idea of summarizing your main take home-points for us! 🙂

Great question too. I have not seen the procedure described anywhere, but science suggests that emotional states or moods impact future behaviour – which indicates that it’s a really good idea. But – learning also impacts behaviour. So I’d be careful doing those calming massages in other contexts too to avoid the animal learning that “after the fabulous massage they LEEEEEAVE”. And using other techniques too. Certainly worth trying!

Great video! I have a really frightened cat that I just got from a shelter… touching is out of the question! How do you build a relationship with someone who’s frightened and just wants you to go away..?

Nina, I can relate to that.

Actually, I’ll talk more about what to do (playing and sd/cc) in the upcoming videos – but in the meantime, if you just got her, make sure that you have Feliway installed, lots of hiding places, multiple escape routes, access to three-dimensional space and several kitty boxes – and give her time to adjust without having to meet all the family members at once…! Good luck!

Really interesting video, thank you. I will share on Monty Roberts Online Uni as I know they would find this interesting. I wonder if I could ask a question? Orphaned animals can be notoriously difficult if raised by humans as they do not properly learn their own ‘language’. Our desire to ‘overcare’ and ‘humanise’ animals can make it at best difficult for them to interact with their own species if returned and at worst, dangerous. However, this is not always the case. I wonder what your thoughts are on the difference between solely human reared animals, and ‘naturally’ reared animals with human interaction.

Great question, Vicci, and your raising a really problematic issue.

I’d say the extent of that problem depends on a couple of things: a) the amount of learning that occurs after birth relative to innate behavioural repertoire (highly species-specific), and b) the nature and quality of social interactions, and c) the degree to which (and age) they are exposed to their own species. And perhaps I should also add whether sexual imprinting occurs or not (if they learn mating preferences by association or if these are innate – again species-specific). So, for instance, males in human-raised birds and hooved animals often imprint sexually and might try to mate with humans when they grow up, cats and dogs don’t. Primates learn most of their behavioural repertoire – cows don’t…

My take on this: try to keep the animal with its own species as much as is possible. If the mother doesn’t have any milk she can be trained to allow the infant to be fed whilst she’s holding it… preventing much of these problems down the line.

A lovely explanation of the CARE system – will share this with my ‘new puppy clients’ to back up the explanation of why puppies shouldn’t be left alone to ‘cry it out’!
Look forward to your next video.

Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge with us! I love your way of giving “heavy” information in a “light” and interesting way. And your English can be understood by everyone :-). I am looking forward to part II!

Thank you… I find myself that I remember information better if it isn’t too complicated. Understanding is one thing, remembering another..!

Your courses are so fascinating, eye-opening and important. I’ll share and hope it may help others the way it helps me understand and being more responsive towards the animals in my care. Thankyou!

My dog has just taken one very long week to readjust to being with me after I went OS for a month. Trying to understand if it’s anger or grief is perhaps not as important as the fact that we’ve loved her back to health and vivacity and joy, but still…

Liz, sorry to hear it’s taking time.

In this training series I’ve talked about emotional states as something more or less fleeting, but if an animal consistently experiences the same types of emotional states, we lable that moods. And it takes time to shift moods. Don’t feel guilty; simply offer consistent positive experiences and you should be able to help her shift that mood. Unless she has a medical condition? (hard to tell from your comment…)

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