We have spent thousands of hours training together. I have carefully studied and used new techniques and training philosophies. I have read dozens of books on learning theory, canine ethology, and behavioural science. After all of it and twelve years after changing how I live and work with my dog, my dog is not perfect.
There is a Zen side to me that says that my dog is perfect. Perfect in the sense that, given what she is and has experienced, she is the perfect representation of who she should be at this point in her life. But the truth of it is that, like many other dog owners, I have days where I say “Sit” and I get the blank stare followed by her wandering off to lay down in another room. Not exactly the model of compliance or cooperation.
My dog is better than your dog
A dozen years ago, my own personal crisis over dogs forced me to take a hard look at what was and was not working in my training approach. I very quickly found that I was woefully under-educated and misinformed about dogs, how they learn, and what science has learned about them in the past 30 years. Catching up on all of that learning was tremendously exciting. When I added a new puppy to the mix and saw what you could teach a dog with all of this new information, it was truly mind-blowing.
You can imagine how delighted I was to find Internet communities of like-minded trainers who were also using this new science based approach to working with dogs. Lists for positive trainers and clicker trainers and reinforcement trainers seemed to be everywhere and they provided me the opportunity to clarify my understanding and to find creative new ways to apply this kind of training.
Then I encountered The Debate. Every dog training discussion group had at least one. That person who came in to tell us that we were doing it wrong. They had been training dogs for 30 years and it just didn’t work the way we said it did. You can’t let them get away with not behaving properly. All of these food treats were just going to make my dog aggressive. I would never be able to get my dog to obey me without my food or my clicker. Sure I had found a new way to train but it was wrong. It was not as good. Sure, I could get results. But their dogs were better, more reliable, more well-mannered.
The Challenge
It seemed that those discussions always came down to some challenge of my dog’s ability to perform. It was a constant stream of “Yes, but…” Sure you can train a dog using positive reinforcement but they would not perform unless they saw the treats. Sure you can train a dog using clickers and treats but you will never achieve the highest levels of performance because they just won’t be consistent. Sure the science of canine learning can help you train a dog without forcing them but you can never be sure your dog will behave when you command them to every single time.
Well, some of that it is true. But most of it is nonsense. More importantly, the bits that are true remain true no matter what kind of training you use! There is a very simple reason for that. Despite the best efforts of some trainers, dogs are just not machines you can program to consistently give you what you want when you want it exactly the way you want it every single time.
Many times those challenges would come down to the classic assertion that without force or punishment, your dog simply cannot be trusted off-leash, especially near traffic. Force trainers who offer up this challenge frequently promise that they can train a dog to “Stay” no matter what in a matter of minutes. Why should this be the gold standard for perfection in training? Why is the perfect dog the one that doesn’t do what a dog is supposed to do because a human said so?
Dangerous Perfection
So much of “good dog training” seems to be defined by what we can keep dogs from doing. The “Stay” challenge is just one example. We expect our dogs to leave the food we drop when we say “No!” We expect our dogs to walk at our pace and not pull ahead on their leash when we walk them. We expect them to politely tolerate the sometimes unexpected physical contact from strangers. We expect them to calmly put up with being poked, prodded, or even lunged at by strange dogs. In short, the more my dog does not react to the world around them, the more perfectly they are trained?
It seems to be about compliance. I say it, you do it. We somehow expect unquestioning obedience from our dogs in response to our verbal commands (or sometimes hand signals). That ideal “perfect” dog does what they are told, when they are told, and they are prepared to ignore everything in their lives at a word from us. And we say it’s for their own good, for their own safety.
Intelligent Disobedience
I first heard the term “Intelligent Disobedience” in a presentation by a dog trainer who trains dogs for work with the disabled. Service dogs sometimes have to ignore the commands of their owners in order to do their job properly. This is called “Intelligent Disobedience.” Let me give you an example – If a blind person asks their service dog to go across a street, the dog is supposed to “disobey” if they see traffic coming. The dog must be able to make a decision not to follow instructions for the safety of both them and the person they serve.
It’s an interesting concept and one that has applications far beyond the service dog arena. I play agility with my dogs and on occasion I will use the wrong word or gesture in steering my dog. Frequently she will go where I meant to send her and not what I instructed. That’s Intelligent Disobedience. You could call it a case of “Do what I meant, not what I said.” It happens with our dogs a lot more than we like to admit. We expect them to be mind readers and sometimes it seems that they do just that.
Blessed imperfection
Not every run I do with my dog in agility is a clean, qualifying run. She doesn’t come to me instantly every time I call her no matter how much we practice that Really Reliable Recall. She has been known to snark at other dogs who decide to sniff the wrong parts of her without permission. In spite of the hours of training I’ve spent to teach her dozens of behaviours, she doesn’t always get them right when I ask for them. She’s not a perfect dog.
But she is a dog. That means she has all of the internal drives and instincts of her species. She has the curiosity and intelligence to want to be aware of the world around her and to explore it. Due in part to the way I have trained her, she is confident and comfortable in her life and doesn’t fear unexpected punishments for being “wrong” or imperfect. And I find great value in her imperfection.
I have met some of those more “perfect” dogs. The ones who wait patiently for a word or a glance from their owners before doing anything. The ones that wait for permission for everything in life. To me, they just look sad. It doesn’t seem to be much of a life if all your existence amounts to is being at the beck and call of a human “master.” What of creativity? What of Intelligent Disobedience? Where is the room for the dog to be a dog?
So much of what I see in dog training really only serves the convenience of the human. “Stay” so I don’t have to look after you as you explore. “Leave” the other dog alone so I can enjoy a civil conversation with my friend at the distance that makes me most comfortable. And only bark when I want you to because I find it annoying when I don’t want to hear it even though I’m glad for it when you do alert me to something.
For many reasons, there are those who would find my dog much less than perfect. And I couldn’t fault them for their conclusions. But I find great value in her imperfections. I celebrate them and make adjustments in my life to account for them. Taken together the training and management and imperfections makes what I can only call a perfect life for me and my dogs.
Until next time, have fun with your dogs!
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Photo credits –
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Thanks Eric,
I was searching the web to find how to get unquestioning obedience from my dog. After reading your article I think I might have been over-reaching. Still, it hurts to be outsmarted by a cavoodle.
Cheers,
Andrew.
I don’t use the methods you do, but although my dogs never pull on the leash come, sit, etc when I tell them, they do lots of things by theirselves, they go to the woods if they have to go to the bathroom chew on bones, run around the yard and sniff new scents, they are obedient but not robots.
Thanks for your comments.
There are lots of ways to train dogs. Fortunately for us, all of them seem to work given more or less time and effort. We each teach our dogs to live successfully in our lives with us. It sounds to me like you have done exactly that!
All the best,
Eric
Wonderfull, well writen and very interesting.
What a lovely post. I have similar feelings, but you expressed them quite eloquently. I am a trainer, but much of my job is about getting people to have realistic expectations of their dogs, to work on the *relationship* and understand that it’s a two-way street. Dogs are not robots to be programmed, or stuffed animals to reside on a shelf when we don’t want to deal with them. They are living, thinking, feeling creatures who have needs, and opinions. Thank you for writing this!
It sounds to me you have a perfect DOG!
If you wanted a perfect ROBOT you would have bought one, right?
Love this article, I will pass it on.
Marlies
You have summed up my two dogs to a tee! Once I accepted my reactive dog’s imperfection (or rather what I viewed as imperfection) we were able to make some real progress in her reactivity.
I have been training and showing dogs for many years and have seen the changes in training, good and bad. As with all my dogs I train the way that works best for the individual dog. Wookie is a serious, dedicated worker when he wants to be and a clown when he chooses. Even though it has cost us some great scores and even a title, I wouldn’t have him any other way. He makes me smile.
Thank you so much for this article! I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about how i like it sometimes when my dog doesnt listen to me sometimes, because i didnt want him to become some mindless robot, i like that in some situations he does what he wants to do because.it makes him happy, and they couldnt grasp the concept that a dog shouldnt always listen to its person, i will share this article, and perhaps your words in the hopes they will better help them understand my thoughts
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing!
All the best,
Eric
Great! Thank you very much