Pet care: Dog's night terrors may be result of shock collar training

Dear readers: My four-part series on Irene, the ABQ BioPark’s Asian elephant, will continue on my website, drjeffnichol.com. You can find part three today and part four next Sunday.

Q: We have a golden retriever that was given to us when he was 1½ years old. In his previous life, he was taken to two different classes where he was subjected to fear and pain through a shock collar. Ever since we have had him (15 months), he has terrible nightmares where he screams at the top of his lungs in fear. They occur three to eight times a month. Otherwise, he is a great dog and very happy during his waking hours. Is there anything we can do to eliminate “the night demons”?

Dr. Nichol: I’m really sorry that your excellent dog was treated so badly. Force and intimidation have no place in humane treatment or in current learning theory. These methods are unnecessary and badly outdated.

Inappropriate behaviors can be frustrating. Punishment is the treatment of choice for some people because it requires no assessment of underlying causes and it works fast. But it often goes wrong. While a dog can learn what not to do, there is nothing about punishment that tells him what we want from him instead. Worse still, repeatedly inflicting pain can result in learned helplessness. An otherwise intelligent creature makes no attempts at defense or escape. He simply takes it.

Your retriever’s night terrors may be a direct result of his severe punishments. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an illness that can occur in anyone who has experienced a traumatic event. Dogs are also known to suffer its unrelenting effects.

A placebo-controlled study found that an oral medication called prazosin, historically used to treat high blood pressure in several species, can block the effects of adrenaline in people with PTSD. When prazosin is taken at bedtime, it can significantly reduce nightmares. Before starting your dog on any medication, an accurate diagnosis will be essential.

There’s more to modern behavior medicine than science; inflicting emotional or physical pain on an animal is just not good for the soul. We need kindness and consistency to enable real improvement in ourselves and in man’s and woman’s best friends.

For help with behavior problems, you can sign up for a Zoom group conference at drjeffnichol.com

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