Hi! My name is Soneca, which means “Nap” in Portuguese. I am originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and was born in 2014 to a street dog from the tough outskirts of RJ, living in constant stress. It was a very bad situation, and I could feel her stress already in her womb. I spent 30 days with her and my siblings – so little time! And then I was adopted by Maria.
I was already a very restless dog by then. To be honest, I do get easily stressed and react to noises very easily, often displaying fearful or reactive behaviours. I am almost always scanning my environment for danger, especially around cars, big dogs or strangers. Also, since I was 5, I have had chronic hip pain, which makes me a bit grumpy. But I am also happy-like! I go on trips to the beach and the forest, I get 3–4 meals a day, treat-hunt walks, and enrichment in and out of the house, which keeps me active and engaged.
Recently we moved to a new home, and suddenly everything changed. It seems fine but cars look scarier, louder, and bigger. My instinct tells me to be afraid of large scary things that might kill you.
Now, on walks, my heartbeat rises, and I bark at them, which works because they go away.
On a trip to this mountain in Austria (my mom called it that), we are going for a walk after breakfast and I am feeling good inside, positive. I am wearing a long leash so I can smell around as far as I want. Suddenly I hear something. I know that sound—it’s a car! Memories of that sound come pouring back. I remember that cars are scary, and my heartbeat starts rising as my body enters a fight-or-flight survival response.
The car is coming so close that I must choose what to do. I can ignore it, hoping it might go away, but I don’t think that will work. I can approach it, but it is scary for me, or I can lunge and bark at it to preserve myself and my family.
I choose to lunge and bark, expecting it will make the scary car go away.
The result: the car attacks me back, and I feel extreme pain. I spend a day at the vet clinic getting stitches in my paw.
Now, after this experience, my mood is mostly down and when I see a car from afar, I whine and shiver. I freeze and refuse to walk at all!
My mom is helping me overcome this through positive reinforcement and behaviour modification. Every time I hear a car, I get a very SPECIAL tasty treat so that I begin to feel safer around cars and gradually reduce my fear response.
Now, I know not to attack but rather to avoid cars.
Some more: this really happened to us in April 2024!
While studying how emotions influence decision-making, I wanted to understand how my dog sees the world using Mendl and Paul’s model (2020).
How do animals make decisions?
They mainly base their choices on the following (Mendl & Paul, 2020):
• Mood (Core Affect) – A dog’s underlying emotional state. Does their baseline mood lean towards a positive or negative valence?
• Internal State – Are they hungry, scared, excited, or anxious?
• Memory & Evolutionary Memory – Past experiences help them predict outcomes, while instincts also influence decision-making.
• Sensory Information – What they hear, see, or smell in the moment.
Using these, the dog comes up with action options (e.g., run, avoid, ignore, attack, approach) that are directly influenced by action values (positive or negative valence outcomes). This is called affective options (Mendl & Paul, 2020).
Dogs compare their current emotional state with past experiences to decide what is safe or risky. The action with the most positively valenced affective option will be selected. If their choice leads to a good result, they are more likely to repeat it. If it leads to something bad (like pain or fear), they will avoid it next time.
Over time, this shapes their general outlook—whether they become more confident or more cautious.
Why does this matter for dog owners?
- Emotions Shape Behaviour – A dog’s general mood (optimistic or pessimistic) influences how they perceive the world, make decisions, and respond to everyday situations.
- Balance is Key – Too many positive or negative experiences can create problems. Even too much optimism can lead to risky decisions. Dogs need freedom, choice, and opportunities to learn and develop confidence.
- Stress Affects Brain Function – Stress, especially early in life, can impact brain areas responsible for attention, emotional regulation, and memory (Dr. Kristina Spaulding, 2025). Chronic stress may also contribute to behaviour problems such as fear, reactivity, aggression, and separation anxiety.
- Dogs Have Highs and Lows – Just like humans, dogs can have good or bad days, and pain can heavily influence their behaviour because pain shares many brain areas with emotions (Dr. Kristina Spaulding, 2025). Pain is also an often-overlooked contributor to aggression, fear, and other behavioural problems in dogs.
A dog’s current situation not only includes the here and now but also their internal state, memories, affective coding of past rewards and punishment, and incoming sensory information.
Recognising these connections helps us better understand dog behaviour and reminds us that behaviours such as aggression, reactivity, separation anxiety, and fear rarely happen “out of nowhere.” Every behaviour is influenced by a combination of emotions, previous experiences, physical health, genetics, and the environment. When we understand how dogs make decisions, we are in a much better position to help them succeed rather than simply reacting to the behaviour we see. Through my behavior modification program, I work remotely with dog guardians across Europe and Argentina, helping dogs with aggression, reactivity, fear, separation anxiety, and other behaviour concerns through personalised, evidence-based behaviour modification.