Understanding Fear - Page 1

How does the fear factor in a dog and a human interact? Any thoughts? Is there a predictable ratio?

bee -- i don't understand your question .. do you mean the fear between a huamn and a dog as they encounter each other .. or do you mean does fear in a human present  in the same way as a fear in a dog would ??  a normal canine , well socialized in puppy hood during the critical psychological develomental period .. should in no way ' fear humans' ... a dog needs a reason to fear / or be fearful of someone- and that would be sothing that person does to the dog .  .. ..  there are primarily two reasons without a stimulus dogs would fear.  -- either incorrect environrment/learning/experience  i.e missed the correct critical period for socialization OR the dog is not genetically sound !!
                      if you are taliking about fear in humans and fear in dogs ... all that i can say that is a range /.. from very very low towards very very high .. some peole you can shout at [ an to exaggerate] they will pee their pants ... some dogs have low stress levels that shout at them and you will see them cower,---  some people you could shoot a gun at them and they wouldn't flinch[ RAMBO ] , same with dogs , i have seen dogs work and literally a plastic chair could hit them over the head and they woulnd't even flinch !! So fear is not,  a very as a matter of fact , attribute . all attributes have   qualitative as well as quatitative components , a range !! does  that gives you some input BEE???

Yes, it does, I fear I have stressed you though in the asking, ALPHAPUP.  I was going for a discussion and you raised many interesting points.

I thought you were even going deeper, by asking how does the dog react in accordance to when the human/handler responds fearfully to a stressful situation.

I was "afraid" to ask

Wouldn't want it resulting in a fearsome debate.

Bee -- that was a good question !! -- ?? stressed ? you raised a good topic !!..  many problems i have to work out with people and their dogs are based on ' fear' !  i have found that to a lot of people it is not understood , or how to deal with it [ as it relates to dogs]  !!  stress and fear - a part of life  :  how we cope [and or dogs ]wit is what matters . if a wolf never feared anything ,[ or a person, dog]  ... it wouldn't survive !!   
           daryl; .. true .. that is another component too !! dogs pick up , as you know already, on the fear , inseciurity of their owners , exacerbating problems and when people see thier dogs aggress out of fear ,  similarily , a worse problem ..
                same with sport.. i see handlers uncomfotatble , non-confident .. this carries over right to the dog whether it be protection work . obedeince. ..
             Daryl  yes , there can be a lot of discussion and debate . nothing wrong with a fearsome debate these discussions probably help a lot of people coming to the forum .. i have friends i recc . this forum to ... and they have gained & bettered themselves quite a bit even over all the disagreements and difference of opinions.
             chaz ..if we fear to ask .. then we never better ourselves ..or our dogs ...
              BTW .. fear ..for those interested ......  has a biophysiological basis .. not to be academic .. but this is the basis of the problems with incorrect training in protection work .. a dog working in fear .
 , although appearing to do great protection work ,  has a different area of 'its brain stimulated compared to a dog working in protection that is secure. .. fear can be very very very destructive emotion to a canine. therfore , just for the record BTW .. it will literally affect it's brain !! So be careful . when you want to work a dog in defense...
              BEE , i cannot give you 'ratios' but again ... you do bring up a very very important topic . FEAR !! and it can be discuseed much more at leangth than i did !! THANK GOD !!

1) Fear is justified if it is of a real threat versus a figment of imagination threat

2) If fear is not on actual threat it implies instability in the dog

3)  And lastly, courage is not the absence of fear but its presence however; the dog's ability to integrate it with its perception and deal with it ULTIMATELY without the handler's control

Hi Vikram,
Could you please share some of your training that has put dog's into a fearful state or showed their courage?  Could you please provide the experience you have and what you base your responses on?  I'm interested in your actual experience not what you've read on the internet.


Cheers,


Jim 

Vikram,
 
You lost me there....and that is not easy! Please explain.

Fear in dogs...can be suspicious... all the way to vicious.
A vicious dog is mentally unstable and needs to be put down.