A distinction that is missing in previous research on human-dog interaction is that between
- Attachment (childlike bonding)
- Social bond
The child’s attachment (1st stage of sociogenesis) is asymmetrical . The child, or rather the puppy, orients itself towards the adult and has no other choice.
Since the child’s attachment is largely instinctive on both sides, the adult attachment partner hardly has any choice either. The greatest possible care is shown to one’s own child, one’s own offspring. (Exceptions can be found in people with profound personality disorders, such as Munchausen syndrome by proxy.)
However, the experiences gained (or not gained) during the attachment phase form the basis for the later ability to form social bonds.
The social bond ( 2nd stage of sociogenesis), on the other hand, is symmetrical and is based on a choice of attachment partner and is normally characterized by mutual orientation towards one another.
While in mammals there is always the child’s attachment, i.e. the first stage of sociogenesis , this does not apply to the 2nd stage, the social bond. This is missing, for example, in foxes, cats, etc., which live as loners.
This distinction is important, among other things, for the compensatory education of dogs .
Even a dog that has had no or bad experiences with humans in the first few months (attachment) can become a social dog and form a social bond with humans.
However, such dogs easily relapse into the behavior patterns of a solitary dog (e.g. anxious/aggressive, compulsive, etc.). And building a social bond requires humans to have particularly well-developed relationship-building skills. The dog needs an ” important other ” with the skills described above.
Building a social bond is a prerequisite for compensatory education. A key path to this is through the play dog .
Orientation toward humans, the transition to a social dog, enables the dog to overcome its anxieties and resulting behaviors (flight/panic, fight/aggression), etc., which would be impossible for it to achieve alone as a solitary dog.
=> Training – Teaching – Education
