Sometimes a dog looks calm, but is that what’s really happening? Or could it be learned helplessness? Join me as I dive into this listener question and unpack the nuances between the two.

Can I touch you? A pilot study comparing consensual and non-consensual human-dog touch interactions

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159125000589

"Choice and consent are critical welfare elements, especially in interactions between humans and animals. Dogs incorporated in therapeutic settings (therapy dogs) may encounter human touch interactions where they have limited control over their circumstances. The present study examined how forced and free-choice touch treatments during interaction with humans influenced the behaviour of therapy dogs and hypothesized that therapy dogs would display a higher frequency of stress-related behaviours during forced in comparison to free-choice touch treatment. "

Old problem, new tools

One of the psychologists who discovered learned helplessness returns to the topic to pinpoint the phenomenon's neurobiological underpinnings.

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/10/helplessness

"This is the illusion of control at the level of neurochemistry," Maier said.

Taken together, the findings suggest that in the face of any stressor, the DRN activates the body's ancient stress responses, but if that stressor turns out to be controllable, the vMPC steps in and calms the DRN's response. "It's like the forebrain is saying, 'Cool it, brain stem, we have the situation under control,'" Maier said.

Learned Helplessness Training Article by Nicole Wilde

https://wildewmn.wordpress.com/2019/01/09/learned-helplessness/

For full transcripts, go to the audio episode on CreatingGreatGroomingDogs.com

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The full diploma program

Master Groomer Behavior Specialist(MGBS) diploma program

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Modern Behavior & Handling for Groomers

Groom S.M.A.R.T.

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I had a great conversation with The Amazing Susy Scott on The Groom Pod. She's a friend and a Master Groomer Behavior Specialist. You can find The Groom Pod at https://www.thegroompod.com/

The video can be found at https://www.creatinggreatgroomingdogs.com/videos/groom-pod-cggd/

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 Kindness is such a subjective word. How can we ensure that we're making kind decisions for the pets in our care and for our own pets? Because there are many pet owners listening to this podcast also.

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Episode 207. How do I get my boss on board? Geez, Chrissy. I like the show and I wanna do all these things, but I'm not self-employed and my boss isn't on board yet. So if you work for someone else, it may feel impossible to make these kinds of changes, but we're gonna talk about that this week, 'cause there are some great discussions that we can have with your boss.

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 This week, we are talking about a game that anybody can play with their dog to help them be more prepared for grooming and other types of care. It's super easy. Young dogs, old dogs, dogs with no issues, dogs with plenty of issues—this is easy stuff that anyone can do.

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 This week, we're answering the question "If he hates it, why on earth would you do it more often?" Oh, this is such a great question. We're gonna have so much fun covering this one because I think we hear that a lot from our owners, but we also hear that from the non dog trainers. A lot of dog pros who aren't dog trainers might also question this. So we're gonna break it down this week

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This week we're talking about why humane handling must be a priority for groomers, for owners. For veterinarians, we have to make humane handling a priority. And that gets tricky if we haven't yet defined what humane handling is.

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This week we'll talk about how grooming is more than just getting it done. We'll talk about how we can tailor our grooming sessions to each and every dog. We often think that groomers either have to get the job done or refuse, and there's so much that happens in between those two choices. It's not black and white. It's not yes or no. There's a lot more tailoring that we can do.

The Bitey End of the Dog: Chrissy Neumyer Smith

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