December 6, 2024, 8:04 am | Read time: 15 minutes
Sleeping in the woods or under a bridge with your dog? This can have great advantages for your four-legged friend, says dog psychologist Marc Ebersbach. In the big PETBOOK interview, he reveals what this is all about and what advantages he expects it to bring.
“I recently spent a whole night sleeping under a bridge with my dog,” is how dog psychologist Marc Ebersbach begins his controversial video, which has been viewed over 200,000 times on social media. An experience that he can warmly recommend to dog owners. However, not just for fun, but with a serious basis. In an interview with PETBOOK, he revealed what this statement is all about and why he believes dogs should be exposed to new and familiar stimuli throughout their lives.
What It Really Means to Spend the Night Under a Bridge with Your Dog
PETBOOK: You say that everyone should spend the night under a bridge with their dog. Why is that?
Marc Ebersbach: “The suggestion to sleep under a bridge with your dog was said with a wink and should be taken metaphorically. It’s about seeing which stimuli your dog is used to and which he doesn’t yet know so well and which, therefore, triggers insecurity in him.
I pointed out in the video that there are dogs that are less able to cope with urban stimuli, but there are also dogs that have problems with stimuli in nature. As my dog belongs to the latter group for biographical reasons, I confront her with stimuli in nature from time to time and combine this with little adventures.”
Do you have an example of this?
“For instance, we might camp out in the forest or, as depicted in the video, on a pedestrian bridge over the Oder River, which is quite romantic, incidentally. The absolute darkness at night in the Brandenburg countryside was a challenge for my dog, as were the noises in the water, but also the total silence. Such or similar exercises strengthen her personality and help the dog not to become increasingly fearful as she gets older – and it also promotes the bond with the owner.
Of course, everything should be done lovingly, playfully, and sensitively. It’s not about hardening the dog but about breaking out of everyday life. For many human-dog teams, this is often quite boring and stuck in a rut. Such activities can strengthen the dog’s psyche and stabilize it into old age. The same applies to dogs as to humans: He who rests rusts. Not only physically, but also mentally.”
“We have to distinguish between fear and anxiety on the one hand and insecurity on the other”
How was this experience for you? And what do you take away from this experience? “At first, I was surprised to see how insecure a dog can react to something as banal as noises in the water at night. You have to remember that my dog only came to me when she was one and a half years old and had a thoroughly insecure personality. We worked on this very purposefully. With caring ‘mom energy’, but also with adventurous ‘dad energy’, as I always jokingly say. By that, I mean that you should, of course, always take a dog’s insecurities into account. But you should also help him to outgrow them, for example, by positively motivating him to step out of his comfort zone again and again.
I was, therefore, also happy to see how my dog relaxed more and more and, after overcoming all her insecurities, finally fell asleep cuddled up in my arms. Now, when we visit the same place, she can enjoy it in a relaxed way right from the start.”
Such situations can be quite scary for dogs (and for humans, too, of course). How should you behave towards the dog? Comfort him? Or should you act as if nothing is wrong?
“We have to distinguish between fear and anxiety on the one hand and uncertainty on the other. If the dog feels fear or anxiety during such adventures, for example, trembling, panting, or going into rigidity or withdrawal, then the stimuli are far too stressful. Such an experience would harm the dog.
“You strengthen a dog’s personality when you integrate these little adventures into everyday life”
On the other hand, there are insecurities that a dog experiences more or less in everyday life, depending on its personality and habitual situation. There are dogs with sensitive personalities that benefit from being confronted with moderate stimuli that allow them to grow without these stimuli overwhelming them. It’s all about this experience. Does your dog know nature, the mountains, the sea, rivers, the village, or the city? Has he ever spent a night outside with you, slept in a tent, or stayed in a camper and experienced the sunrise and sunset with you? You strengthen a dog’s personality when you integrate these little adventures into everyday life.
Many people ask me why I have to take my village dog into the city. You don’t have to do anything. But it’s noticeable that dogs in rural areas, in particular, often react very stressed to stimuli that make them feel insecure. The opposite should be the case. Just as too many stimuli in everyday life can stress a dog, the opposite can also happen, namely confrontation with too few stimuli. Ultimately, however, my video should only be seen as an inspiration, not as an urgent recommendation for action.”
“Under no circumstances should you ignore your dog’s insecurities”
How do I react when a dog signals uncertainty to me?
“It’s important to make a distinction here. Under no circumstances should you ignore uncertainty, as is often recommended, because that would mean that I don’t react in any way to the dog’s insecurity. However, the dog actually feels unsafe, which means that its brain interprets the situation as presumably dangerous, even if it may be completely harmless from an objective point of view. So, I have to react to this, and I have two options here.
I used the first option when my dog stopped on the very long bridge in the middle of the river and simply didn’t want to go any further. She didn’t tremble or pant or show any other symptoms of stress. She just didn’t want to go any further because she wasn’t comfortable with the situation. In this case, I chose to set an example and simply kept walking while calling her lovingly. The motto was ‘Don’t hesitate.’ I won this match because as the distance to me increased, she overcame her insecurity and followed me. That was the end of the hesitation on the bridge.”
“Massaging releases oxytocin in the dog’s body, which has a strong calming effect on the dog”
What happened next?
“At night, when we stayed on the bridge, she signaled through uncertain gestures and facial expressions that she was not comfortable with the darkness of the night. When the sound of water from a splashing otter and loud wind noises were added to the mix, I called her to me, took her in my arms, stroked her lovingly, and massaged her vigorously, occasionally talking to her in a very positive, cheerful and motivating way. Most dogs react very positively to physical security. Massaging releases oxytocin in the body, which has a strong calming effect on the dog. At the same time, it strengthens the bond with the owner.
As for the verbal, cheerful, and positive attention, I like to call this ‘throwing a party.’ I break through the dog’s negative expectations with irritation. Because his mood doesn’t actually match mine, he starts to take a closer look and deal with the situation cognitively. Sometimes, you can see the little question marks in our dogs’ heads when they are afraid of something trivial, and we react in an emphatically cheerful way. I think they then think: ‘Stop, there’s something wrong with my perception.’ And that’s exactly what I want to achieve.”
Should a Dog be Comforted or Ignored When it’s Scared?
A major point of contention among trainers is the question of whether a dog should be comforted or ignored when it is scared or frightened. How do you see it?
“There is a lot of uncertainty as to whether you should comfort a dog when it is afraid of a thunderstorm, for example, and is trembling, or whether you are reinforcing its behavior. So here we are talking about situational fear and no longer about insecurity. The persistent myth is that fear and anxiety should be ignored.
It has been scientifically proven, and I also prove it in hundreds of training sessions every year, that the exact opposite is the case. If a dog is generally very scared or feels great fear in a specific situation, i.e., shows corresponding stress symptoms, it can work wonders to help him overcome the feeling through physical protection and the aforementioned measures. When giving verbal affection, however, it is important to make sure that it has a positive and cheerful effect on the dog and is by no means pitying.
I recently read in an official examination for private dog owners that the dog would even learn that it is worth being afraid if you comfort it. For the life of me, I can’t explain how anyone could come up with something so absurd.
“It’s high time that old fairy tales were replaced by scientific findings when it comes to training our dogs”
If a person is afraid of flying and I have a positive, motivating effect on them, give them a hug and remind them of the wonderful vacation that awaits us when we board the plane, then surely they won’t learn that it’s worth being afraid of flying? I can already hear the critics saying that you can’t compare a person with a dog: Yes, neurologically, you absolutely can. And it’s high time that old fairy tales were replaced by scientific findings when it comes to training our dogs.”
But back to the actual adventure. Does it have to be a bridge, or does camping in the forest do?
“Yes, it has to be a bridge, nice and dirty and scary. No, I’m kidding; of course not. As mentioned before, the bridge was just an example, which admittedly should also attract a bit of attention. Pick something for you and your dog that you both enjoy, and that feels like a little adventure. Everyone defines what a little adventure is differently for themselves and their dog.”
Most dogs are born in one place, live there for a short time, and then move to another place with completely different stimuli. What challenges does this pose for dogs and owners?
“Unfortunately, this is an issue that both breeders and dog owners think far too little about, but our dogs have to pay the price for it: in the form of stress that unnecessarily accompanies them throughout their lives.
Marc Ebersbach: “Raising a puppy only in the countryside and selling it later to the big city is irresponsible”
Breeders should pay more attention to the stimuli that puppies are confronted with during the socialization and habituation phase. It is irresponsible to raise a puppy in the countryside and later sell it to a big city. Similarly, owners should ask the breeder more about the stimuli the puppy was confronted with and whether the habituation was carried out professionally according to a certain system or rather according to the motto: ‘Unfortunately, the weather was bad in the first 8 weeks, so we could only practice indoors’.
This comment is no joke. One customer told me, for example, that the breeder didn’t want to take the puppies outside in the snow because they might catch a cold. The result was an extremely insecure dog that would suffer all its life from being confronted with too few stimuli in the first twelve weeks of its life. Getting dogs used to these stimuli later on is laborious and only possible to a limited extent.”
“Bringing a herding mix from Bulgaria to Berlin Prenzlauer Berg is irresponsible towards the dog”
Assuming it’s too late, how can you support your dog in the best possible way? For example, a dog from an animal shelter that comes to the city with a trauma and doesn’t know many things here?
“It’s not an easy question to answer, as some cases are very individual. It would be good if people thought about which breed they are bringing into their homes beforehand. Bringing a herding mix from Bulgaria to Berlin Prenzlauer Berg is irresponsible towards the dog. Trying to get a grip on its undesirable normal behavior later on with rigid training methods is simply unfair to the animal.
Secondly, I have observed that people are far too impatient and overwhelm their dogs with far too many stimuli in the first few weeks. Give the dog more time to get used to it, short walks, and less contact. Less is simply more here. You always lead and train a dog from relaxation to relaxation and not from tension to relaxation. In other words, the stimuli must be low enough at the beginning so that the dog can accept them in a relaxed manner; only then can they be increased.
Hoping that he will get used to stimuli that are too much for him from the start by enduring them is a fallacy. If the dog cannot cope with the many stimuli on a longer walk, for example, it is better to shorten the walks and do several short walks a day with breaks in between. This allows the dog to process the stimuli from a relaxed state and grow with them.”
Marc Ebersbach: “Particularly, a dog that comes from the street tends to show little interest in unfamiliar dogs”
What other problems do you often see as a dog trainer?
“Another mistake that is often made is to allow indiscriminate contact with dogs. A dog that comes from the street is especially not very interested in strange dogs. However, it is possible that he will be very reserved for the first few weeks after arriving at his new home out of insecurity and allow his owners to take him to the dog run and expose him to countless strange dogs. But at some point, he remembers his self-confidence, and then the problems start. The best tip I can give here is no indiscriminate contact, only contact with selected dogs with whom you regularly go for relaxed walks. This is the best way to ensure that your own dog stays relaxed.
Another major problem is that dogs, especially females, are often neutered too early in their country of origin before they move in with their new owner. For anxious or aggressive bitches, in particular, estrogen is a valuable support in training to normalize their behavior. If they are spayed too early, it may be difficult or even impossible to normalize their behavior. You should discuss this issue with the animal welfare organization in advance and ask for the dog to be spayed or neutered only when it has moved into your home, and you can be sure after six months that it will not show any behavioral problems.”
“If I don’t counter the slightest signs with cunning and persuasion, uncertainty later turns into fear”
Especially as dogs get older, their perception changes, and many become more anxious. What can you do to support your dog here?
“Dogs are capable of learning well into old age, with the only difference being that they increasingly bring old experiences into the equation as they get older. It, therefore, makes sense to keep challenging and encouraging the dog’s mental and intellectual flexibility.
Here, it is also a case of ‘resist the beginnings. ‘ Many dogs, for example, have no problem with walks in the dark over the years. Suddenly, they become increasingly anxious and no longer want to go for a walk in the evening. I would react immediately and make it clear to the dog through a mixture of positive, cheerful motivation, calmness, and consistency: We’re going out there now and enjoying the night. So don’t get out quickly and get back in quickly, but pack a picnic basket, go out, pack treats, and make an event out of it. I’m exaggerating a bit here, but I think everyone knows what I mean.
Resist the beginnings sounds pretty blatant, doesn’t it?
“If I don’t counteract the slightest signs of insecurity with cunning and persuasion, the dog’s insecurity will slowly increase into fear and later into anxiety. There are two important aspects to this recommendation: “Resist the beginnings” really means reacting to the very first hesitation. If the fear has already become entrenched, it becomes more difficult and could lead to the dog no longer being able to transform the unpleasant experience outside into relaxation and then associating it increasingly negatively.
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However, if you recognize the first signs, react immediately and make sure that the overall experience for the dog ends up being a good one like the night on the bridge was for my dog, who eventually rested in my arms and would now repeat the night relaxed and happy at any time, then you are doing it right.
And the second thought: the aging dog doesn’t always want to stop doing something for psychological reasons, but sometimes he is in increasing physical pain. So before I believe that he no longer wants to do something out of fear that he used to enjoy doing, I always recommend a health check at the vet. If a dog gets physically tired with age, you should, of course, take it easy and perhaps provide some variety at home or in your garden. You can also wrap yourself in blankets with your dog on your own balcony and enjoy the sunset.”