The Emotional Battery

[Indy]

I'm watching a friend's dog over the weekend-- he's a 1.5 year old Pitbull mix named Milo. He has very little training. Since I've been keeping up with Kevin's videos and articles as of late, I've been trying to get a grasp on his behavior through the NDT theories and ideas. He and Indy do not get along very well, but this is mainly due to Indy and has shown me we have a lot of work to do still.

Milo is an interesting dog in that he seems to be very "permeable" in the sense that everything around him affects him conspicuously. I'm thinking that he is able to store very little energy in his "emotional battery" so to speak. Anything that happens-- if Indy moves, if I move, if there is a noise outside, etc. seems to have to be resolved instantly through some kind of activity (i.e. barking, moving around, grabbing a toy, etc).

He has been great with Indy, even though Indy has been less than welcoming-- Indy has been mounting him repeatedly, snarling, giving him direct eye contact, etc. Milo has been able to take it all without reacting back in an aggressive manner.. instead he will put his ears back, lie down, and has even rolled over once. At the same time, he has not initiated play at all-- he seems unable to "plug in" to Indy.

On our walk, he's all over the place-- his focus drifts from one thing to the next in an almost rapid-fire fashion. We were walking on a greenway that goes under a bridge with lots of traffic on it-- and he completely freaked out upon hearing the cars cross. He actually slipped out of his harness.. but I was able to get him back by being very prey-like (it worked like a champ!)

I've been pushing with him, and he'll give me a moderate push. His front paws will just barely get off the ground. He is unable to simply relax outside of his crate, and has been constantly playing with toys that are around the house. It's like there is this constant flow of energy into him, and instead of being able to internalize any of it, it HAS to find an outlet immediately.

Am I looking at this accurately? I know he's probably thrown way off being that he's in a completely new environment with his owner gone, and another dog is around constantly. But it seems like he's unable to internalize anything into his emotional battery, and at the same time, is very affected by anything happening in the environment.

I only have him until tomorrow night, but what sort of exercises would help a dog like Milo? My friend has expressed interest in getting him a bit more grounded so that he's able to handle moderately stressful situations.

[Lee Charles Kelley]

Hey, Indy,

Here's my problem. I don't know how to relate to Kevin's idea (or analogy) of the emotional battery. From a purely abstract and philosophical pov I guess it makes sense, and it gives Kevin a frame of reference for how his techniques work (which they do, and amazingly well). But it doesn't tell me how a dog feels. Do I have an emotional battery? Perhaps, but I have no way of accessing what it feels like. So I can't answer your question from that perspective. (I do know what a biostatic electrical charge feels like, but I'm not sure if that's the same thing as an emotional battery.)

What does make sense to me is the analogy of the pressure cooker. When wolves hunt large prey they undergo a great deal of pressure, especially when it comes time to go in for the kill. That's a pressure situation, both physically and emotionally, but it has a built-in escape valve: the kill bite. Even pack members who haven't laid a single tooth on the animal still get the release eventually of tearing at its hide to get at the meat, etc. (A lot of leftover tension is sometimes released through snarling and snapping at their pack members; that's another release valve.)

Pit bulls were bred to take down large animals on their own, with no help from their pack mates. They were bred to be able to push past enormous thresholds of pressure that other breeds couldn't possibly manage. As a result, they have the propensity and need for very serious levels of release. Very serious. You can play tug with a pit bull for hours and the dog will still want more. (The same is true for some Jack Russells.)

Cut to Milo and you. Are you an experienced dog trainer? Have you done a complete psychological history on the dog? Would you know what to do with the levels of pressure that a pit bull like Milo has it his disposal were they to suddenly all come flowing out? Also, isn't Indy trying to tell you something with his behavior, i.e., "What do I do with all the pressure I'm feeling, dad?"

In other words, Milo is not your responsibility. Yes, encourage Milo's owner to buy Kevin's book, or to log on here, or to contact me or Kevin or Neil, or to visit our various blogs and websites, but don't distract yourself by trying to be helpful to Milo when Indy is showing you that he's got his own pressure-cooker situation going. If you ask me, that's what you need to be dealing with more than you do with Milo.

I don't mean to sound like I'm attacking or chiding you. I'm just trying to steer you in the right direction: "What do I do with my energy, dad?"

LCK

[Indy]

No worries, Lee-- I didn't mean for my post to sound like I was taking responsibility for Milo or ignoring the needs of my own dog. Also, to clarify, Milo is a pitbull mix.. but yes, I'm fully aware and cognizant of what pitbulls and other high-drive dogs are capable of when things boil over. My primary question was about how the emotional battery fits into this picture (sounds like Kevin might be the one to ask about this), and a secondary question about what exercises I could recommend (and maybe help) his owner start doing to improve Milo's life.

And no, I'm not a professional dog trainer nor have I done a complete psychological evaluation of his dog. That was a bit snarky, but like I said, no worries

[neilsattin]

<oversimplification>
The emotional battery is where you store the stress of emotions that weren't resolved in the moment. In other words, as you walk around in the world, you are having (primarily) an emotional experience. When the emotion can flow through you (energy in - energy out) then that's "emotional battery neutral". When that emotion gets stuck within you, that residual emotion is stored as stress within your "emotional battery".
</oversimplification>

So in a nutshell, you could think of your work with a dog as

1. teaching your dog a way to reliably resolve their emotional experience in the moment through action
2. helping release unresolved stress that your dog is "holding" in the battery
3. enhancing your dog's ability to experience higher and higher levels of emotional stimulation without storing it as stress through relaxation

The way that you describe Milo, it sounds like he's "tense and nervous. Can't relax." The gradual effect of his interactions with the world might indeed be adding stress to the battery - and your description of your attempts at pushing with him indicate that there's a ways to go before you really reach the depths of stress stored within. If a dog needs to trust a person in order to "go there" - then you can think of the gradual nature of your work with a dog as building the level of trust that allows a dog to go there.

For most dogs I encourage a balanced approach - meaning that the action (pushing/tug/play/etc.) is always balanced out with the relaxation (massage/rest indoors, or outdoors while energized). With a dog like Milo, the more they experience profound relaxation followed by the release of stress through pushing, the easier it is for them to experience the congruity of those emotional states (i.e. relaxed AND energized, at the same time). At the moment, Milo sounds a bit like a high tension wire, vibrating as each little emotional experience arises.

[Lee Charles Kelley]

Originally Posted by Indy

And no, I'm not a professional dog trainer nor have I done a complete psychological evaluation of his dog. That was a bit snarky...

Sorry. I didn't mean it to be.

LCK