Building Trust and a Solid Bond in the Human/Dog Relationship

The Human/Dog Relationship is Based on Trust

What is trust in a human/dog relationship?  Dogs don’t always naturally trust humans.  It is something that must be earned and created through respect.  Dogs need to feel safe, secure and have their needs met. Learn to read their body language - this is how they communicate. They can certainly read ours!  Play, have fun and reward good behavior.

Through positive training, consistency and reliable consequences, the bond between dog and their person grows.  Each dog is unique in what their training needs are. There is more to training than teaching a dog to sit, stay, come, good leash walking skills, etc…. The dog and human bond and building trust plays an important role in a happy, long lasting relationship.   

Leash Walking Skills are Developed through Positive Reinforcement Training Methods

I stumbled upon a recent dog training video created in June 2025 in which a woman was teaching her dog to walk on a leash.  Her dog trainer called themselves a balanced trainer.  This is the newest wave of words in defining dog training methods.  Balanced training is another way of saying the trainer will use both positive punishment (aversive techniques) and positive reinforcement methods (rewarding good behavior).  The video stayed with me and honestly angered and saddened me.  The dog was receiving hard leash pops if it moved a little in front of his owner during their walk.  After each leash pop the dog would succumb and then there was the subtle tongue flick.  What does it mean…..A tongue flick is a subtle sign of fear/stress/discomfort that many dog owners are not familiar with.  Not the obvious fearful body language like a tucked tail or flat ears.  This is where the skill of the trainer matters and can relay that information to the owner/handler.  A tongue flick is not a sign of learning but a sign of stress.  Not every dog can take that level of correction, or the health risk, it is not good for the dog’s trachea.  The woman gloated over her success - sadly not realizing the fear she is instilling in her dog.  Continued use of this type of punishment can lead to increased lack of trust, fear, anxiety and aggression in dogs.  

Operant conditioning teaches a desired behavior through consequences. Good behaviors increase through positive consequences and unwanted behaviors decrease through negative consequences.   

So what is positive reinforcement and positive punishment?

Operant Conditioning Dog Training

Positive reinforcement:  reward based - good, desired behaviors are reinforced and are, therefore, more likely to occur.  It promotes confidence, solid dog/person relationship, and a happy dog.  Another description of “positive” training is LIMA or Least Intrusive and Minimally Aversive.  To teach dogs desired behaviors positive reinforcement comes first with minimally intrusive methods to achieve these desired behaviors.  These strategies build trust and a solid bond.

Positive Punishment:  This is the type of training used in the video I witnessed.  Examples of aversives are choke collars, shock collars, leash pops, physical/verbal corrections.  These tools are used to decrease unwanted behavior like leash pulling or jumping.  But…any piece of equipment can become an aversive if used incorrectly.  They instill a form of fear and/or pain through their use.  Training with positive punishment does not address the cause of the behavior.  I wouldn’t move either if my neck was being jerked sharply.  And yes, I would fear it would happen again.  Not a very good way to build a trusting, solid relationship between a person and their dog.

After viewing the video, I asked myself, where is the attempt to build trust?  Were there attempts to build communication and promote a solid relationship with respect?   Building trust is not a light switch, it is a process, a positive process.  Might there be challenges? Yes…  Every dog is unique and trust building can vary based on your dog’s genetics, background, and history.  Isn’t the goal of dog owners to have a pleasant, mutually respectful life with their dog what we all want?  Or is it to scare it and create a stressed, uncertain dog?  

Mutual Affection Between Dog and Their Person

Unbreakable Trust and a Solid Bond

Strong Bond with the Family

Suzanne Clothier, Bones Would Rain from the Sky:  Deepening Our Relationships with Dogs,  2002.  She is a respected and relationship centered dog trainer.  A couple of her quotes that sum it up:

“Learn to train without ego”.

“To fix the weak spots in a relationship, you need to begin at the beginning. The quality of connection is created and repaired at the most fundamental level of attentive awareness.  In each moment that you are with the dog, you must be aware, gently and persistently shifting the balance toward one of mutual agreement and cooperation”.