Author: Sue Kocher

There’s an old saw in the dog world that just won’t go away: “Don’t pet or comfort your dog when she’s acting scared—you’re just reinforcing that behavior.”  But fear is not a behavior to be reinforced – or punished. It’s an emotion, like excitement, affection, playfulness, and sadness. Behaviors and emotions are tied together in important ways, but they are not the same, and require different approaches when they become a problem for your pet. Behaviors are Learned – Emotions are Involuntary Take for example the fallacy that forcing a… Continued