top of page

Frustration

Frustration is an emotional response to a situation in which the goal is not attainable, or in which there is resistance to the goal.

As an emotion, despite your efforts, you cannot prevent your dog from feeling it some day. Neither you nor he has any control over it. Nor is it possible to control everything in your dog's life, in his environment, so that he never feels it.

chien couché

It is also not possible to satisfy all of his desires at all times to avoid him feeling frustrated. Besides, it may also happen that he has learned that some behaviors lead to some consequences and that the day when these consequences are not available and no compensation has been taught to him, he end up with a frustrating lack.

The issue with frustration is that it is likely to lead to anger (to change the situation and achieve the goal), to sadness (comfort can console not to achieve the goal).

It has a bad reputation because it is considered an emotion with negative value.

And yet, in my opinion, it can matter if it is dosed adequately.

Adequately means that it depends on the dog's profile, his mood of the moment, his resilience skills, on balancing with a positive emotion or feeling (joy, curiosity for example).

When I am called for fearful and/or anxious dogs, and they are in the progress phase, I create goals at a pace they are able to follow to maintain their progress. Sometimes this creates a desire in them to do more; still, if the goal has not been set for that time, I will not follow their desire. It is then possible that this creates a small frustration in them, which they will have been taught to resolve by increasing the satisfaction of their curiosity: either they find something else to do nicely, or at the next stage they are enthusiastic to exceed the previous goal.

If the dosage is not calibrated properly, frustration, if repeated, may work against your goal.

I'd rather deal with a dog that has learned to manage his frustration, than a dog who we outlook he is likely to be frustrated.

Your dog will not always be able to get everything he wants. However, he can get it from you that you teach him to compensate, to shift his goal to another less undesirable target, to be patient and come back with more enthusiasm.

2 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

Couldn’t Load Comments
It looks like there was a technical problem. Try reconnecting or refreshing the page.
bottom of page