The science behind STURMFREI® tableware

Collars, chest harnesses and STURMFREI®

Effects of different leadership elements on a physiological and psychological level.

STURMFREI® was designed based on scientific findings on canine behavior ; the sensorimotor reactions on a physiological and psychological level in adolescent and adult dogs. Veterinarians, dog trainers, dog physiologists and dog behavior experts were involved .

The patent concept was designed with a focus on the dog's biological conditions, such as instinctively triggered behaviors when the dog's physiology is affected , basic social needs and the scientific findings of behavioristic learning theories based on this (behavior development, behavioral tendencies in connection with general conditions and external stimuli).

The idea that a dog's behavior is influenced by external influences on the physique and also has consequences for physical health has so far been vehemently disputed in science. Learning experiences about the physiological body should be perceived separately from body reactions, which, however, contradicts the apparent facts.

This can be seen in dogs, for example, in the change in their walking style and behavior that becomes apparent due to external influences. Physiological and psychological reactions are linked and can reinforce each other, which also affects the processes at the cellular level in the organism and in turn brings about corresponding behavioral reactions. A dog acts differently when excited than when relaxed, both of which are reflected in processes in the body and also trigger symptoms such as hyperacidity, growths, cartilage breakdown, shallow breathing and a reduced supply of oxygen to the cells , which in turn affects the dog's perception influence his behavior and lead to new experiences, which are, for example, the result of aggressive behavior that arose from physical symptoms, which in turn arose from other triggers in socialization: everything is mutually dependent.

Conservative medicine and dog psychology ignores internal effects caused by learning behavior and instinctive physiological reactions that trigger corresponding processes in the brain (stimulus-response chains) and insists on a scientifically incomprehensible separation into physiological and psychological reactions . This is no longer appropriate for today's scientific standards. 

The modern holistic approach, on the other hand, makes it possible to design dog harnesses that correspond to the dog's intuitive behavior and therefore also its physiological reactions and in turn have an impact on its behavior (e.g. avoiding a protective posture, which can lead to incorrect loading and, for example, trigger wobbler syndrome).

The patent anti-stress harness STURMFREI® is a milestone in the development of dog leadership options. Through its patented technology, the dog receives signals that can be interpreted intuitively via physiology, which bring relief on a physiological/psychological level and can be implemented by the dog without further training under the appropriate conditions (enough free running, learning experiences through social interaction between dogs, living conditions, etc.). are not stressful, continuity/mentally healthy behavior in the social group and access to the social group in which he lives). 

STURMFREI® combines free running (as long as there is no pull on the leash) and a biologically comprehensible stop signal (from the front) to avoid health restrictions and to establish a bond with the owner that is not based on avoidance behavior. This is possible because the stop does not trigger reactions in the dog that would occur in the case of an intuitive threatening situation due to the pulling on the collar or the perceived pulling of the entire body backwards on the chest harness. In canine reactions, the signal to stop occurs in the same place, as with a verbal command, and so the impact on the dog's body from the front can be linked to verbal instructions, without any threat signals that have a long-term impact on the dog's social behavior and physical health dog's impact. 

Since the dog's brain reacts the same way when there is physical resistance or "doesn't know what to do", STURMFREI® allows the owner to orientate towards the dog in all situations of uncertainty, even if he is walking without a leash. In this way, fine communication can be established through facial expressions, which is non-verbal and is similar to the communication of dogs (facial, through muscle movements, gestures and spatial movement) . 

STURMFREI® offers the optimal possibility of adapting to the individual dog and is made from appropriately high-quality materials, the strength and width of which have been adapted to the different dog sizes. Serious illnesses such as wobbler syndrome, which many dogs suffer from as they age, are ruled out with the STURMFREI® anti-stress harness, as there are no continuous injuries to the anatomical structures in the neck (narrowing of the blood vessels or impossibility of undisturbed blood flow) like collars between brain and body, irritation of the thyroid gland, as well as the sympathetic and sympathetic nerves), just as a chest harness can trigger herniated discs through daily repeated stress on the anatomy in the back, the joints, fascia and nerve connections , through the dog's constant autoimmune reaction to this to escape the burden. Dogs with STURMFREI® are exposed to a much lower dose of stress and corresponding physiological processes and therefore walk in an upright position even at an older age and do not suffer massively from disorders in the musculoskeletal system, which are the result of continuous stress such as incorrect food, too little exercise and continuous exercise “Fight” are on a leash.

In conservative dog training, as in conservative child training, there are some basic assumptions that are based on interpretations that correspond to the androcentric (human beings are above all) beliefs of current social structures. Specifically, this means that it is assumed that naturally observable behavior does not correspond to a dog's natural reactions and that the resulting behaviors (the negation of natural reactions) make life easier for dogs and humans - if the dog barks at the collar, if if he sees another dog in the territory then that would NOT be a LOGICAL behavior.

When collars are used on mammals, it is assumed that they prevent unnatural behavior and do so in a way that is beneficial to dogs and humans.

In order to maintain this illusion, fundamental aspects of what is observable on a psychological (behavioral) and physiological level (effects of squeezing the neck, causing shortness of breath and pain, narrowing of space for muscles, blood vessels, thyroid and all other areas on the neck) must be taken into account. be hidden.

First of all, it should be noted that when observing the behavior of mammals under natural circumstances, symptoms and illnesses very rarely occur , as is the case under the patriarchal conditions in which dogs live in our societies. Dogs grow up in the mother clan and are subject to few limitations. They do not run together on their own, but as puppies they have a close relationship with their mother and instinctively move close to her. As they develop, their range of motion increases and they seek out and interact with other members of their own species. Interaction also includes body perception, which occurs through social interaction but also physically via the senses and is a basic requirement for the development of one's own personality and health on all levels. Maintaining spatial distances from one another is essential for understandable communication and is therefore consequently made more difficult by the leash.

In nature, dogs are rarely corrected outside of measures to maintain social peace in the group and they orient themselves independently towards pack members from whom they believe they will benefit. As the dog grows, it naturally moves away from influences that are harmful to it and has no interest in pack members or their attention who try to subordinate it. He reacts naturally to repeated, non-logically comprehensible attacks , which the dog perceives instinctively. That would be biting, pulling on the neck, being dominated (humping) and other body-level behaviors between dogs.

With the domestication of dogs, the desire to have a companion who adapts to human conditions was realized. Over centuries of breeding, the nature of the dog has been manipulated in such a way that our dogs today not only endure conditions that are not appropriate for their species, but also no longer have a chance of survival among naturally living conspecifics.

It quickly became clear that by squeezing the neck and repeating it, the dog can be told “I decide whether you are in pain or not”. The pull on the neck and the intuitive application of pain, as well as the instinctively triggered flight behavior, provoke the dog to "give in" and usually run next to the person, highly tense and panting (which after some time becomes apparent through adaptation or "insert". “Pass over blood” also stops).

What is seen as a success is nothing other than having increased the pressure so much that the dog's organism “gives up” and goes into avoidance behavior. To get to this point, a dog must have gone through the instinctive threat and flight reactions countless times. This could be roughly imagined as a child who refuses something countless times that harms the child and then gives up the resistance in order to make survival easier. The instinctive resistance has not disappeared, but it is less visible to the outside world. However, it continues to work at the cellular level because the organism does not differentiate between consciously perceived and subconsciously perceived threats.

The organism sets various processes in motion to avoid this and has to draw energy from elsewhere. This is how a large proportion of diseases arise. The connections are easier to observe in dogs because the variations in the conditions under which dogs are affected are less pronounced than in humans. We see a big difference between dogs that have walked on a collar all their lives, dogs that run freely, and dogs that have worn and been walked on the STURMFREI for several years . Not only are diagnoses related to this, but we also see it in the way dogs walk, how their bodies are shaped, and what tension they compensate for (for example by panting or aggression). A dog is always exposed to multiple conditions, so a dog that has 3 hours of free run every day and sees new environments can compensate better for an hour on a collar than a dog that only goes out for 30 minutes and always runs the same route. Food, air, relationships with other people/dogs and the dog's everyday life also play a role. Dogs who are alone a lot, for example, will react violently with overcompensation outside, especially when they are younger, because there they can “let go” of what they cannot live alone (dogs don't know how to live alone). Even under such conditions, the dog unconsciously (like humans) chooses the option that best allows him to survive and develops other corresponding symptoms that can no longer be assigned to the general conditions because this is undesirable.

Like humans, there are vital structures in the dog's neck that also regulate the dog's oxygen supply to and from the brain. There are blood vessels, fascia, the thyroid and nerve cords that enable or regulate communication between the brain, joints, organs, nerves, muscles, fascia, etc. That's why it should be noted that dogs do NOT "bite" each other's necks during physical interaction, but rather they usually rub each other's facial area. Only in cases of real aggression or hunting do dogs bite towards the neck, as this area is very sensitive and unprotected.

Dogs that have to walk a lot on their collars and don't pull are the absolute minority. This is because our society has become more humane: Few people can still bring themselves to frighten and stress their dogs until they go into avoidance behavior. Of course, there are also dogs that won't pull on the collar without it being broken. In order to achieve this, the dog must be continually given “redirection”. This means that meticulous care must be taken every day to ensure that the dog is not interested in external stimuli (meadow, other dogs, other living beings, discovering) and that the dog is conditioned to the owner. To do this, the owner must continually be exciting for the dog and the dog develops into a dog that, outside of this interaction, does not have an easy time interacting and communicating with everything else (other dogs, responding appropriately to behaviors, training all of the senses by absorbing different impressions, substances and situational processes). The dog is not available to the social community outside of this bubble (owner-dog) and free social interactions are made more difficult because the dog was not able to learn the “craft” during its socialization.

STURMFREI® solves this problem because STURMFREI® does not trigger a flight instinct or convey an instinctive feeling of threat, which is immediately reported by the organism to the dog's brain when there is a threat to the supply of blood to and from the brain (intra-dog communication = Communication and exchange of the components of the dog's organism located within the dog) comes. STURMFREI® triggers a stop from the front and therefore corresponds to the logical stimulus-reaction chain created in the dog's brain. For example, if a dog wants to go to a tree, with the STURMFREI® it experiences resistance from the front and mitigates it. This happens via the signal on the shoulder. And it's understandable if you put yourself in the shoes of the dog and think about how she reacts when she perceives real or unreal resistance from the front of her mind. The same applies to standing in front of other dogs, people or places: the dog perceives resistance from the front. The same neurological processes occur in the brain as with real, visible resistance that is perceived on the body.

The collar and STURMFREI® behave in opposite ways to each other. The collar is used to make the dog docile by jerking the neck and triggering such an unpleasant reaction that the dog allows itself to be distracted by external stimuli and is supposed to merge with the owner in a “symbiotic” way through positive reinforcement. This means that the dog does not develop a natural attention to the owner, which it chooses as it grows up through getting to know others, interacting with external stimuli through the senses and experiencing it, but rather it turns to the owner due to the impossibility of complying with this natural behavior and avoiding threats . For example, dogs are trained by the police or the customs office: They serve as an extended arm and cannot act in social groups, because the prerequisite for complete symbiosis with the owner is the complete impossibility of dealing with anything that does not correspond to the owner interact or get to know it, the dog does not learn to resolve conflicts and make its own decisions. His focus is on the owner and obedience. The dog does not develop its own self.

This is reinforced by the removal of young mammals from their mother, who have a completely natural bonding behavior with the mother animal from birth, which over time expands to include other people, the territory and everyone with whom the dog interacts. Interrupting this natural process makes it easier to control the dog, as he is still looking for “connection” and is looking for a replacement instance, as he needs connection in order to “grow out” of it due to the level of his personality development. This principle of all mammals is used to prevent the existential bonding-delivery phase, which is a prerequisite for the development of a self-sufficient ego, and thus to establish a hierarchy that leads to resignation at a later age due to the impossibility of developing through appropriate framework conditions .

The STURMFREI® does not have the purpose of bringing the dog into a symbiotic relationship with the owner, but rather prevents the dog from associating external irritation with an “attack” triggered by the pull from behind and prevents the dog from being “calmed down”. A busy dog ​​without any physical illness will simply stand still with the STURMFREI® and automatically look physiologically towards the owner due to the angle. In this way, the stimulus that causes the dog to sprint is lost from sight and a chain of attention can be practiced that is not based on the dog being able to avoid a physically perceived threat. There is also no reinforcement in the sense of escape behavior, i.e. an increased fixation on the goal. Incorrect connections such as pulling on the neck and the association with the neighbor's dog, which the dog just sees on the collar, cannot take place in this way. This makes communication much easier. A “voluntary bond” can also be trained in this way, as it is then triggered by positive interaction. Owners must react according to the dog's needs in order to be recognized as a guide and can do this completely without any threat if they fail to obey. Dog training is then no longer concerned with trying to make the dogs docile, but rather has the main focus on role play in the social group and challenges people to develop themselves and recognize blind spots.

The chest harness is used consciously during mantrailing and sled dog activities to trigger the opposition reflex. In this case, a stimulus is positioned outside and the stimulus to pull from behind reinforces the need to pull and thus to search or run. It is a controlled provocation of the dog, which is intended to ensure that it meets the needs of the owner and that the dog can release pent-up energy. This works very well when done intermittently rather than at specific times on certain days. However, if the dog is continuously exposed to the opposition reflex (pressure creates counter-pressure), then physical avoidance strategies will occur and the dog will suffer from health problems in the long term. This can manifest itself in herniated discs and other diseases of the musculoskeletal system, but also in behaviors such as aggression or panting. Even more subtle symptoms such as constant itching can be related to stress, which manifests itself on an organic level through an overload of the liver and leads to hyperacidity, which manipulates the pH value of the dog's environment in such a way that it shows through the skin.

The aim of the STURMFREI® is to give the dog freedom of movement and not to trigger any worsening symptoms in the event of a situation in which it needs to be acted upon . In addition, a redirection to the owner takes place through the stop signal that the dog receives from the side and so a new stimulus-response chain can be trained that is completely free of any need to escape pain or pressure. The bond is then not a “rescue” from something else, but is reinforced with positive triggers. 

The dog can continue to move its head on the STURMFREI® and move its front area to the left or right. He is not disabled and does not experience any physiological “threats” that trigger stress and lead either to escape or, in the long term, to resignation. It is a naturally understandable stimulus for the dog, which only works when the leash is tightened. It sits loosely when freewheeling. The STURMFREI® has a long-term effect on the dogs' health in that they do not constantly experience triggers on a physiological level that they have to counteract and that would pose a risk of death for them in nature. The components of the mammalian organism function like gears. Every unnatural experience is noticed and a corresponding program is implemented. These experiences are usually followed by further unnatural experiences, which then lead to further mechanisms.

Modern science dispels myths to improve the quality of life of dogs and deepen the understanding between owners and dogs so that a healthy bond can develop that benefits both parties.