Re: Picking up the post!

[kizkiznobite]

ok…

postie and the way folk react and why the dog….etc

so scenario time …..

the dog is all quiet at home relaxing all nice after a walk or eating breccie or working a kong or in a deep sleep….

and then a real threatening noise starts…the trolley being pushed down the path, the clatter of other letters boxes, voices…the monster making all this racket looks fierce…bright jacket, hoods up in the rain, big bags that distort the shape, sometimes a bike and ….

it coming to my house…i need to protect my house and all in it …i need to warn them…i have to do my job and be a dog….and …….wayhey…yep…i did it…i am brave….i won…i did my job…me is a happy dog…me is good …the monster has now gone…look mum i did it see…..

where is my reward…what do you mean you are cross…i did it i did my job….i am confused…my body is telling me i have survived and we now safe….but you are cross and why you shouting…… :-\ :-\

nature takes over and the surge needed to be ready for the hunt/kill …protect/run ….kicks in….dog gets a huge shot of stress hormones and goes into action….

the biochemical stress system relies on two hormones … adrenaline and cortisol…to keep it simple the  adrenaline acts as an instant helper but cortisol has a huge driving force behind it and is in for the full ride and these both carry with them neurotransmitters that signal the brain…it is this stress reaction that is about survival… to all …hunters or hunted….it activates when there is danger or possible danger or any kind of threat…first is the trigger that releases the adrenaline into the bloodstream to prepare the body for action…to provide the extra strength and fast thinking required …the heart beats faster …breathing is shallower…senses become honed…this is the real flight or fight response in action and dogs learn from an early age to ‘stress up’ in anticipation of a possible danger …the more alert behaviour on a night walk for example…..as the adrenalin starts to reduce (remember that the instant get set go hormone) …the cortisol rises…and it takes ages for that to go back to normal …as this seesaw is happening then other stuff kicks in depending on what the outcome was…..so with success comes a feel good factor, a sense of achieving but with failure or external punishment then anxiety, sense of doom, low self esteeem, panic etc ..

so….all that has happened….more than once in most cases and then the learning kicks in and also if it happens a lot then dependency on the effect (the adrenaline junky affect)….

so in bev speak

postie comes
threat alert
dog reacts
postie goes ( as they always do)
dog wins everytime
dog has to go through the ‘come’ down off the hormones has to cope with the seesaw…has to burn it off or go insane…so
post gets ripped…part of the monster and it there…

dog doesnt understand that for the human the bad bit maybe just rippping up the post  ;D

so

back to you lot…how can this be sorted…and i dont mean a wall post box…unless you happy with management….for me this should never be managed with a post box etc for very good reasons but that my PO

have a fun debate…. 🙂