...Just some food for thought...

"Holding dogs accountable" - What does this really mean?

I hear dog trainers refer to it often in their training videos, and I'll tell you what I see:

Dogs experiencing big, distressing emotions being "held accountable" to "obedience" in the face of something concerning to the dog, whether we think it's a valid concern or not.

In essence, holding nervous, anxious, or reactive dogs "accountable" to obedience in distressing situations is nothing more than suppression.

I'll give you a silly, but simple example:

I'm terrified of spiders.

I come over to your house, you take my jacket and tell me to sit on the couch.

Moments after sitting down, I spot a HUGE spider on the wall.

I scream and jump up!

You say to me, "Hey, I told you to sit down."

I continue backing up - moving as far from the spider as I can get.

You get up, take me by the arm, and walk me back to the couch.

You use a bit of pressure to get me to sit back down.

We might go back and forth doing this several times before I finally stop trying to get up.

So, you successfully held me accountable to sitting on the couch... But what about my emotional experience?

Am I no longer afraid of the spider?

Do I trust that you have my best interest in mind?

Or have I merely given up on trying to express myself?

Emotionally, I am still panicking and possibly even more so.

The only difference is that expressing it outwardly results in added conflict and pressure from you holding me "accountable" to sitting on the couch, so I hold it in to avoid conflict.

So, from a training perspective, this is really a false positive. Just because the dog has stopped reacting does not mean the dog is feeling better.

...Just some food for thought...

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