Dogs don't think we're dogs: Ethologist Dr. Marc Bekoff on how we can give our "frustrated captives" a good life in a human world

Last week, Annie looked a bit at the career of Dr. Stanley Coren, a writer who recently penned a Psychology Today article suggesting that one way to silence a barking dog is to clamp down on the dog's nose with your hand, like a mother wolf might do to try to silence a wolf pup. Ethologist Dr. Marc Bekoff, who is a columnist for Psychology Today, penned a response saying that we need to consider the causes of dog behaviors we don't like, acknowledge that they're engaging in behaviors that might be appropriate in a different environment, and then work at changing those behaviors with techniques that don't require that we attempt to school dogs as if we were one of them. Annie has a conversation with Dr. Bekoff, who discusses the Psychology Today article and explains why an ethological approach can shed so much light on the dogs who live in our homes, and beyond. Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do by Dr. Marc Bekoff https://amzn.to/2YssUxK Unleashing Your Dog: A Field Guide to Giving Your Dog The Best Life Possible by Dr. Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce https://amzn.to/3j8L2ow A Quick Fix for a Barking Dog by Dr. Stanley Coren (Version edited post-publication) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/202008/quick-fix-barking-dog Original version of article can be found here. https://www.schoolforthedogs.com/a-quick-fix-for-a-barking-dog-home-health-choices/ Do Dogs Bark Unnecessarily or Excessively? by Dr. Marc Bekoff https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202008/do-dogs-bark-unnecessarily-or-excessively The Herlihy Boy Dog Sitting Service (Saturday Night Live, 1994): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq7DbWsjX6A --- Partial Transcript: Annie: Hey there. So last week I talked about the dog writer, Stanley Coren. He had a piece in Psychology Today where he basically suggested that the best way to get a dog to stop barking was to clamp down on the dog’s muzzle with your hand and say the word “quiet” to the dog, a method that he says mimics how a mother dog might quiet her pup. And in response to this article, Dr. Marc Bekoff wrote a really thoughtful essay saying, you know what, maybe we should be instead thinking about what's causing a dog to bark and see the situation from a dog's point of view, as best we can. And to acknowledge that they're basically captives in our world and we're asking them to live by our rules. And that most likely don't think about us as fellow dogs. So we probably don't need to be communicating to them as if we were dominant wolves in their pack. Anyway, it was a beautifully written response. So I reached out to Dr. Bekoff and I'm happy to share with you this conversation, which touches a little bit on Stanley Coren's article, but also went in some other interesting directions. I hope that you enjoy this episode. Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts Get full access to Don't Be a Dick to Your Dog at dogtraining.substack.com/subscribe