Low/High Pain Threshold. What is it? How does it change the way you would train a dog?

Question

In March, 1985, Wendy Volhard and Gail Fisher published an article in the AKC Gazette about puppy temperament testing.

One of the tests was for touch sensitivity.

So if you got a Labrador with a high touch sensitivity, or a Chihuahua with a low touch sensitivity, why should you care?

Why and how would you train these dogs differently?

Answer 1

Fantastic question... I'm looking forward to the answers.



As a breeder, touch sensitivity makes an immense difference for me in determining where a puppy will go and what jobs he'll have in life. I have found it also makes a huge difference since I have 2 vastly different breeds .. so its really not a "one size fits all" sort of answer to the question.



My first breed, Samoyeds, typically have a low touch sensitivity as a whole... but there are, of course some differences between each pup. Generally, I've found that the pups with a higher touch sensitivity are typically a bit quieter and slower to explore... they work better for owners who match that temperament. These owners MUST be instructed to work on grooming on a daily basis or this long coated dog will not be tolerant... this does two things. It stimulates the dog and teaches the dog that it will survive/thrive and becomes a part of the normal ritual of life. The pups with a lower sensitivity tend to be my "brighter" dogs.. the ones out adventuring and learning about new things. They are less reactive to the tugging of hair during grooming and while they need to learn it is a part of life the owner can do it on a weekly rather than daily basis. Samoyeds work best on a paycheck/reward basis generally as far as training, physical styles of training are generally rewarded with a dog who simply shuts down. The high pain threshold/low touch sensitivity comes into play when you are actually working them at their job. A "good" Sam will work beyond what its physical limitations should be... and an owner/handler needs to recognize that pain will NOT be shown until serious damage is done (the dog who runs its pads off while sledding.. and is eager to go again before they are healed.. or the dog who is still willing to herd or run agility dispite the fact that it has torn its ACL).



My second breed, Bernese, are different. In my experience the pups with higher sensitivity are the ones who are out exploring. The lower sensitivity ones are quieter and more sedentary. The lower sensitivy ones are still "bright" but are less concerned about pleasing and you have to find ways to motivate them... redirect them, they make great dogs for someone who is looking for a dog who is quiet and low activity. The higher sensitivity ones seem to be "on" and always looking for direction and attention. For these pups praise seems to be the key to life... they'll work for food but food is not the motivator.. the praise is. Grooming is an issue for both types of pups... the reactive dogs get very stimulated by grooming and find it hard to stand still... the less reactive dogs don't get why they should STAND when lying down seems like a better option.



For the most part my style of training is mostly reward/praise based. For both of these breeds that seems to be what works best for me to get where I need us to go. That being said... when physical reinforcement of basic principles such as "you WILL not bare your teeth at humans" needs to happen, I tend to be MUCH MUCH harsher with the dogs with a lower pain threshold so they get the message in a big dose very fast and we never have to think about the issue again.



Of course every dog is different and there are multiple types of approaches to training.. or in my case, solving problem behaviors. I will utilize touch sensitivity when I believe it will have the effect I desire... i.e: bumping a dog who has crossed into my space while walking on a loose lead and not in a formal heel position.

Answer 2

I once had an elderly lady for a friend. She had a wonderful little dog. A mix of some sort. She had the dog trained well and it behaved very well. Learn here https://tr.im/Wxmdm



She kept an uncovered candy dish on her coffee table with candy in it. The dog was forbidden to eat the candy. When she was in the room observing the dog he did not even appear to notice the candy. One day while she was in her dinning room she happened to look in a mirror and could see her dog in the living room. He did not know he was being watched. For several minutes he was sitting in front of the candy bowl staring at the candy. Finally he reached in and took one. He placed it on the table and stared at it, he woofed at it. He stared some more, licked his chops and PUT IT BACK in the bowl and walked away. Did he want the candy, oh yeah. Did he eat it? Nope. They can be trained that well but most, I'll admit, are not trained that well. When I was a young boy, maybe 5 years old. We had a german shepherd. He was very well trained also. My mom could leave food unattended on the table, no problem. She would open the oven door and set a pan roast beef or roast chicken on the door to cool. No problem. He would not touch it, watched or not. But butter? Whole other story. You leave a stick of butter anywhere he could reach and it was gone. He was a large shepherd so there were not many places he could not reach. Really, I think the number of dogs trained to the point they will leave food alone when not being supervised is very small indeed.

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Now if we are talking obedience training, not food grubbing, that is a different story. Way back when I was first learning obedience training one of the final exercises was to put our dogs in a down/stay and not only leave the room but leave the building for 15 minutes. The only person that stayed was our trainer, not the owners. Most of the dogs in my class did not break their stay, which would be an automatic fail. I'm happy to report my dog was one of the ones that passed.

Answer 3

That is similar to working with children. With an autistic child, you may change the learning environment (take out some of the stimuli) to promote learning.



Perhaps with a high touch sensitivity dog you could be more hands on in the training. Rewards could include more petting, scratching, hugging, etc. In a low touch, you might place emphasis on a different type of reward such as verbal praise or treats.



That's an interesting study...I had not heard about it.

Answer 4

how sensitive it is to touch shouldn't effect how you train it. When using positive reinforcement training there should be nearly no physical contact anyway unless in praise.



The only thing I would stay aware of is if the pain threshold is very high. In these dogs you have to say stop before they hurt themselves, because they will and they'll keep going. My girl has a very high threshold and I need to stop playtime every half hour or she'll run herself into the ground once she gets going.



Low threshold just needs to be aware so you don't end up taking your dog in every time they cry, you need to be able to tell if the dog is really hurt or if they're just crying cause they got a little booboo from stepping on hot sand.

Answer 5

There's a HUGE difference between pain tolerance and whether a dog is tough or soft.



Pain tolerance is what is sounds like. How much pain will a dog tolerate before you get a sign of discomfort on the dog's part. (I'll come back to this)



Tough/soft dogs refers usually more to their mental toughness. You could have a dog that can tolerate a lot physically, but is a mental wimp and vice versa.



Labs usually score very high on touch sensitivity. DUH. Dog bred to jump into 32 degree water. It better have a high tolerance.



Bloodhounds, surprisingly, have a fairly low pain tolerance.



Training. Want to get physical with a lab to train it? You better have something close to a 2X4 (joke). ie. you need to use something else. At the opposite end. If you give an extremely low touch sensitive dog even medium corrections with any type of training/pinch collar they are going to shut down on you.



In other words, you adapt your training methods to the type of individual dog that you have.



Okay, I mixed up the terminology, I shouldn't be on here when I have a migraine.

You clairified it much better. Love ya!

Answer 6

I've heard if you gently squeeze a puppy's paw it will tell you if it's aggressive or not. If it bites at you it is more agressive than one's that don't.

Answer 7

You know Judge, I am going to wait for a while to see what kind of gems you get here before I answer this, but, judging from your first answer, you are in for a wild ride. Oh, and I would not expect anything too serious here either, after all you did not ask what to name your schoondlecockapoo, maltisechi.

Answer 8

First of all "training" your dog shouldnt include PAIN>



You can teach little dogs just the same as big dogs.



I hope to GOD you arent beating your pets into submission.