One of the most profound things I needed to learn about dog training is that dog owners deal with things mostly on an as-needed basis. I include myself in that statement. For more than 15 years, I worked with my dogs and had what I thought was pretty good success just fixing things when I saw them. Sure, there were problems along the way like chewed walls, being dragged down the street on leash walks, and pleading with my dog to come to me at the park while off leash. But we worked them out the same as any dog owner. I thought I was doing a pretty good job right up until the moment I realized that I wasn’t.
I’ve spent the past 13 years learning all that I can about dogs, canine behaviour and science, and the latest in animal training technology. I’ve learned to look at training differently. I’ve learned to listen to my dogs and be honest about what they have and have not learned. Life with my dogs is so much different now. I no longer think that I know everything I need to know about my dogs. I’m always watching them to see what I can learn.
An important lesson that has come out of this for me is that process is important. Have a plan and stick to it. Don’t skip parts. Don’t assume things. Don’t ever think that you’re done. Check yourself to be sure that you have asked the right questions and listened to the right sources before deciding on an answer. Do the best you can to use the right tools in the right way to get the best results. And, after that process is done, be honest about the results and find the next question to keep learning and getting better.
Seeing what’s there
The beginning of any training with my dogs starts with an understanding of what is going on. It might be that I need to deal with a problem behaviour that I want to change. It might be that I would like to modify an existing behaviour to make it more reliable or more precise. It might even be that I want to teach a new behaviour to address a situation we haven’t addressed before. Whatever the case, the place to start is with an honest assessment of what’s going on with my dog, what she knows and doesn’t know, and how I can best motivate her to cooperate with me in the training.
This is one of those places in dog training where emotion can hold you back more than help you. It’s easy to make assumptions or assign motivations to our dogs. It’s best to resist that urge and focus instead on what you can see without any of the additional embellishment. When my dog is sniffing around instead of paying attention to me, she is not “being stubborn” or “still mad about not going for a walk”, she is finding something more intetesting than she finds me! I know this because she is paying attention to THAT instead of me. It doesn’t do me any good to get upset about it. What would help is for me to be more interesting.
Another common mistake is “Oh, she knows how to do this!” Two or three successful responses in a row and the trainer thinks the job is done and the dog knows the lesson for life. When the dog doesnt respond correctly, they can get puzzled and upset. That is the exact moment to take the emotion out of the situation and look carefully at HOW the dog is failing in the behaviour. Being clear about what is and is not happening willl tell you how to modify your training to make things clearer for your dog to understand.
Knowing what you want
I’m always amused when I’m talking to a dog owner about their dog and I ask them what they would like their dog to be doing. Frequently the answer is something like “I just want her to stop jumping up” or “I just need her to stop barking at the door.” I guess the obvious question for me is how many things could be classified as “not jumping up” or “not barking at the door”? That list could get pretty long!
Just as it is important to be practical and objective in our assements, we need to be clear about what we expect from our dog before we start teaching them. Starting from “not that” isn’t really the best way to decide what we are looking for. If our dog is jumping up, what would you rather see instead? Would you prefer fo them to wait until you invite them up? Should they sit and be greeted while they are sitting? Knowing what you want to see will dictate what you need to train. The more specific you are in defining your goal behaviour, the easier it will be to know when you have taught the dog the desired behaviour.
Any training decision comes down to a cost/benefit analysis – is it worth your time and energy to teach your dog any given behaviour. Depending on the situation, your first choice may be whether to train a behaviour or to manage the situation. For example, if your dog goes into a barking frenzy when he sees a cat, it might be worth considering how often your dog will encounter a cat before investing a lot of time into teaching them to be tolerant of cats. It might be easier to just avoid cats than do the training.
If the decision is to train, then the next choice should be finding a technique that will produce the best results. It has been my experience that training methods that use rewards and teach dogs to DO the behaviours I want produce better an more long lasting results than methods that teach my dogs to do it OR ELSE something unpleasant will happen. All training methods will take a certain amout of time, energy, and skill to do properly. You will have to decide for yourself which methods will work best for you but be careful that you don’t choose fast results over more long lasting results. Not all training methods are created equal!
Implementing the plan
Now that you have a good understanding of what you need and a plan to teach your dog, it’s important that you follow through on that plan. Try not to get distracted or sidetracked. If you are observant, you may notice things along the way that you also need to work on. Don’t try to modify your plan to include that new thing to train. It will only distract you and confuse your dog. Work on one thing at a time. Just take note of it and deal with it after the training session.
Be consistent in your training. Don’t let “close enough” become the benchmark for your training sessions. If you have taken the time to decide what the behaviour you want looks like, work with your dog to help them understand what you want and reward them for working with you. Don’t work in long sessions or allow your dog to become frustrated by a lack of success. Ask for progress in small increments make sure your dog knows each step before moving on to the next part.
Reviewing progress
The last step in this process looks very much like the first one. We need to be honest in our assessment of what we have accomplished. What did the dog learn? Did they find the process enjoyable? Did they learn more quickly or more slowly than we expected? And what can we do to improve the result during our next training session?
Again, taking the emotion and embellishment out of this step can make things a whole lot easier. It’s not fair of me to say “I did everything right and the dog still didn’t learn.” If the dog didn’t learn, obviously I didn’t do it right. That’s not something to get upset at the dog about, it is something for me to DO something about! I can find a different method or learn to do the method I tried better. No matter the result, exasperation is never a good response.
Moving forward
The biggest change in my training with my dogs has been that I’m much more proactive now. I try to think ahead and decide what behaviours I would like from my dogs. I consider all of the situations we might find ourselves in and I try to come up with a plan to teach them the skills that they will need to be successful. Having a process to follow to be sure that I have covered all aspects of teaching them helps a great deal.
If I avoid the emotions and reactions that often come with working with my dogs, I find that I am better able to come up with a plan to teach them what I need from them. Blaming my dog for being “stubborn” or “stupid” is as unproductive as it is unfair. It’s my job to teach them and if I have failed, I should be honest about that and try to do a better job next time.
Most importantly this process let’s me avoid feeling like I have failed. After all, it’s an ongoing process. It isn’t ever really finished. So there will be successes and failures. The failures will help me on my way to the next success and the successes will allow me to tackle the next challenge. Consider what your process for training with your dogs might be. It might just be that adding a little structure to how you approach teaching your dogs will make things easier your dog and for you too!
Until next time, have fun with the dogs!
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Photo credits –
Black Dog – Dmitriy K. copyright 2012 from Flickr
Husky – Dr Nik copyright 2011 from Flickr
Training – dawn ellen miller copyright 2014 from Flickr
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