This page is a component of the Glossary of the Dog Science, CBC
Dog Training Workshop, and an element of the Dog Science Network


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Homeostasis

The term homeostasis refers to a state of equilibrium in your dog's physiological processes and bodily systems.

If your dog is healthy, then, when his physical and emotional needs are well met, his body will be in a state of homeostatic balance.

However, when you make your dog emotionally upset using a punishment procedure, his homeostasis will be disrupted as your dog's chemical and electrical processes transform into the profile typically associated with strong, negative affect.

If over time, you consistently pair emotional upset with any given undesirable response, by making your dog upset every time he engages in that forbidden response, you can set in play a paradigm of classical conditioning that will eventually cause your dog to dislike engaging in the target response almost as much as he dislikes being upset.


Go to the index of the Glossary of Terms


This page is a component of the Glossary of the Dog Science, CBC
Dog Training Workshop, and an element of the Dog Science Network