It may seem cruel and heartbreaking to put dogs that have been abused in their prior life with tethers, leashes, and catch poles on leashes and force them to walk around. It is very stressful for them and indeed heartbreaking to have to do it. HOWEVER, it is the best way to move them forward on their journey to a great quality of life and a wonderful relationship with humans.
This was Freeman’s, Kinji’s, and Thor’s first actual hands-on “training” session. With no current way to reward them since they don’t consider verbal praise, human touch, or even treats as a reward, I’m using instant reduction in leash pressure to gradually introduce a correlation between my “Good boy/Good girl!” verbal praise with a reduction in negative pressure. I explain this more in the narrative at the beginning of the video.
With animals that have been given no reason to trust humans from birth, reward often has to start with applying negative pressure and reducing it for desired behavior, then slowly progressing to true positive rewards.
By the end of this session all three dogs were less panicky on the leash and tolerating my touch well. The fosters will continue these exercises daily between now and the next session.
I’m predicting you will see a phenomenal amount of change in confidence when the next video is published here.
For more information about the organization financing these rescues and rehabilitations, clink this link: Save Korean Dogs.
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