Thresholds

Let’s talk about thresholds.  According to Webster, it is something physical that lies under a door, the door itself or some other boundary.  He also offers another definition:

the point at which a physiological or psychological effect begins to be produced, “…has a high threshold for pain.”

a level, point, or value above which something is true or will take place and below which it is not or will not

It’s this theoretical threshold we need to consider.  They keep us “safe.”  They keep us in a state-of-mind that is familiar and comforting.  Thresholds keep us on base, so to speak.  That’s nice, that’s a good thing, right?  It’s also pretty boring.

It’s the same for dogs.  Keeping them under or behind their threshold keeps them comfortable.  That’s a great theory but the trouble is when your dog’s definition of comfortable is in conflict with yours.  Your dog might not like visitors so to stay in his comfort zone, below his threshold, he will bark and carry on trying to make the visitor go away. 

You, the human, have a choice.  You can either acquiesce to your dog’s comfort level by tolerating the behavior and removing the visitor or you can push your dog out of his comfort zone, past his threshold, and modify his behavior so your visitor can stay.  I would not recommend the other “options” which are yelling at him to shut up, avoiding having visitors over, kicking the dog out of the house or pretend it’s not happening at all so that you passive aggressively give in to the dog’s demands when you visitor gets sick of it and leaves..

As I understand it, some trainers advise never pushing your dogs beyond their thresholds.  I can’t speak more on that since it’s not my advice.  Ever.  My advice is simple:

Do not negotiate with terriers.  Or Shepherds.  Or Labs.  You get my drift.

Yes, push your dog past his threshold!  Do it thoughtfully, do it gently, do it with support, knowledge and encouragement.  Help your dog face down his fears and work through them to a calm state of mind.  Don’t force him to be a slave to his own insecurity.  Give him the freedom to explore the world and the joy of knowing that his comfort zone is expandable.

My dog, Gigi, was once riddled with fear.  That fear held her back from fully embracing all that she had available to her and it manifested with nasty, anti-social behavior.  I pushed gently, just enough to help her make a different choice when faced with a situation that frightened her.  It was good enough that she learned to retreat upstairs or behind the table instead of snapping and barking. It was good enough until Pony got hurt and I needed Gigi to step into his role while he healed.

I thought, for sure, that it would be a disaster.  I did not think she would be able to mentor the new dogs the way he did, I did not think she would be able to set the example and guide better choices the way he does.  Most especially, I thought she would hate it.  I was distraught at the thought of making my little girl so unhappy.  I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, certainly didn’t want her to be mad at me!  However, my business- and ability to buy her food and keep a roof over her head- meant that I needed to help new dogs learn manners and the best way to do that is to have another dog model that behavior.  Alrighty, then.

Here’s what came to pass:  She excelled.  She reluctantly took on this new role and she crushed it!  I watched my shy, sweet, scared little girl blossom.  Her confidence and self-esteem are now at an all-time high even as Pony is slowly getting back to work.  She has a different style than Pony, but she’s just as effective.  In pushing past her threshold I discovered that both of us are capable of more.

Thresholds are for suckers.