1. For many dogs you are actually reinforcing the unwanted behavior by participating in what is known in the performing arts as call and response. This is what trainers mean when they say “we’re both just barking now.” It is largely unproductive at mitigating the behavior and more likely than not amplifies it instead.
2. It puts the people who have to work in the environment on edge beyond baseline. It brings relief to no one other than yourself so it is just a self-serving act. No employee is thinking, “Gee, you know this barking is pretty stressful but at least I get to hear relentless yelling on top of it that becomes more agitated, more frequent, more guttural, and progressively louder as the barking persists. What a relief.” It actually makes concentrating and basic functions exponentially more difficult than if you were being subjected exclusively to barking. This is what we would refer to as trigger stacking in a canine learner.
3. No one wants their dog to be yelled at by other people, much less a professional caretaker being paid to care for their dog, even if they themselves do it. I don’t want my child’s teachers yelling at her. Full stop. In the case of barking the nearest human equivalent would be crying or saying “I’m nervous” or “I’m stressed out” or “Hey! Hey! Hey!” This would not be a proportionate response in this example and it is not a proportionate response where we are concerned.
4. It gives you a reputation of which you should not be proud and with which you should not be comfortable. Sound carries. You should be composing yourself the way you are clearly capable of doing during an initial evaluation or a tour over the course of the remaining operating hours of the day. If you truly thought it was acceptable you would be doing it unabashedly in front of your prospective clients.
5. It can harm the human:animal bond. It can cause confusion, avoidance, or aggressive behaviors. It can result in dogs being less cooperative with and more distrustful of you and generalization of this aversion to our caretakers AT LARGE.
6. It expends too much emotional capital and wastes too much energy on your part. It happens to be so exhausting and frustrating because it doesn’t actually work.
7. It can further elevate already elevated cortisol levels in the dogs’ brains, making toxic stress more likely than it would be if you just did nothing.
8. It is ineffective. For positive punishment to be effective you need to do it every single time with every single dog. Though you may try, it is just not possible to address every single instance of barking due to e.g. being on the phone or being absent from the facility.
9. It invites a whole group of people to treat sentient beings without empathy and that is downright dangerous.
10. Yelling increases your own heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension. It can release endorphins, which are natural painkillers, providing a TEMPORARY sense of relief (for you only) but also releases stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, NOT ONLY YOURS
Summary:
Yelling at the dogs is generally ineffective. When it is effective it is fleeting.
Whether it is or is not effective, it comes at the price of a non-zero number of your peers and a non-zero number of the animals in your care being detrimentally impacted. This practice is not ethical, productive, inspiring, or healthy, frankly, and should therefore be discontinued immediately.
What can you do instead?
Personal:
Sing
Hum
Recite poetry or nursery rhymes
Utilize ear protection
Breathing exercises
Tensing and relaxing your muscles
Practice mindfulness and meditation skills
Plunge your face in a bowl of ice water if you need to
Seek employment outside animal care as this conduct negates any other areas of animal care in which you may excel
Procedural:
Reinforce calm/quiet whenever you can. Every single dog should have food reinforcers near their unit to accomplish this. There’s no need to talk to them or look at them or deliver by hand. The more inconspicuously you can deliver it, the better.
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