B.E.S. Dog Training Bible. Andrea Arden
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TRAINER’S TIP
Although dogs want to be accepted into our social groups, they don’t automatically understand the rules. They require our thoughtful guidance and an understanding of their needs as they learn to recognize and choose appropriate behaviors. Family members should discuss this and agree on an approach to training and a set of clearly defined goals for future reference.
Training not only enhances your dog’s well-being, it’s also an important social responsibility. Whether it’s fair or not, a dog’s conduct is viewed as a reflection of his family and their ability to be responsible owners.
Teaching our dogs to be well-mannered should not be seen as a desire to exert our will over them. It is vital to their safety and ensures that they will be warmly welcomed in their community and in our homes.
Setting Realistic Expectations
Dogs that remain in one loving and responsible home throughout their lives generally have two things in common; their families have realistic expectations and a commitment to ongoing education. When setting expectations, consider your dog’s age, temperament, activity level, and health. It’s equally important to honestly assess your ability to follow through with teaching your dog to do what you want on a consistent basis. An honest assessment of these variable factors will prevent frustration and encourage success. Generally, dogs only fail when asked to do things for which they aren’t prepared. This happens when your efforts to teach them something are inconsistent, or when they are not yet mentally or physically equipped to learn the concept.
Commitment and Compliance
Most people start out with the best of intentions when they get a dog. They imagine how their dog will behave (for example, he won’t jump onto the furniture). Yet, in a short time, their dog behavior wish list has been replaced by a list of behavior problems and excuses for why they developed.
Inconsistency is a major reason for this. Good intentions are meaningless without realistic expectations and a consistent agenda of helping your dog learn the behaviors that you want from him. You cannot expect your dog to be mannerly and quiet if you are in the habit of praising him for jumping around and howling with excitement when you arrive home. This lack of consistency can be quite confusing for dogs and will most likely lead to disappointment for the family in regard to their dog’s overall behavior.
CHECKLIST
Training Expectations
Most people share the same general training goals. They hope for a dog that is friendly and safe, mannerly, responsive to requests, housetrained, and trustworthy when unsupervised. However, specific expectations vary. Clarify your goals by making a list of behaviors you consider important in your dog. For example:
Dog Behavior Wish List
– How would you like your dog to greet people?
– Where should your dog eliminate?
– What should he chew, and more importantly, refrain from chewing?
– How should he behave when left alone?
– When is barking permissible and when should it stop?
– What cues or commands should he respond to reliably?
– How should he react when you take something away from him?
– Is he allowed to jump on the furniture?
While your family is setting goals and expectations for your dog’s behavior, you should also discuss the reasons why they are important. This way, everyone will be motivated to follow through with training. For instance, a dog that doesn’t come when called can be seriously hurt if he happens to slip from his leash on a busy street. A dog that consistently eliminates on rugs is in danger of being relinquished to a shelter. Consistently encouraging your dog’s behavior in the right direction requires a team effort.
TRAINING TRUTH
Curb Your Frustration
Dogs thrive in situations where rules and boundaries are clearly defined and communicated to them in a calm, consistent manner.
Most families consider their expectations of dog behavior to be simple. Therefore, it should be easy for their dog to understand and follow these rules. Although dogs are adept at integrating themselves into our homes and hearts, the human world is a complicated place. Behaviors that are perfectly normal and acceptable in the canine world, such as marking, barking, digging, scavenging, humping, and threatening in the face of fear, are often at odds with human expectations.
It is unfair and unrealistic to assume that your dog will automatically understand what is expected of him. You must make a consistent effort to communicate this information if you want your dog to make the right behavior choices. In many cases, well intentioned, loving pet parents may treat their dogs unfairly because they are frustrated by their dog’s misbehavior. As a result, the dog becomes overwhelmed and confused.
A great deal of frustration can be avoided if you learn to recognize your dog’s propensity to behave in certain ways. This may be due to genetics and/or experiences. You should certainly seek to improve your dog’s behavior, but some dogs may always need special assistance when facing particular challenges. This can include dogs that have social issues in the presence of people or other dogs, and dogs with resource-guarding issues (guarding things they consider valuable, such as chew toys and food bowls).
In these cases, training should focus on managing the dog’s time to minimize situations that may exacerbate the problem in addition to creating more positive responses.
Time to Teach
Once you have set realistic goals and made a commitment to teach your dog, it is time to decide the all-important question of how to achieve your goals. The effort required for this can vary greatly depending on your lifestyle and training skills, as well as the dog’s age, genetics, and past experiences. Some dogs require more structure and repetition than others. Your goals and training pace must match your dog’s strengths and limitations.
Considering all of this potential for variability, one might expect that vastly different approaches are warranted when teaching individual dogs Regardless of the dog’s age, breed, or lineage, or the family’ expectations and experience, and experience, the overall approach to training is basically the same. This applies to teaching new behaviors and modifying existing ones.
PAWS TO CONSIDER
Regardless of your training goals or your dog’s unique temperament, the training process must be built on a foundation of trust. This is the basis of efficient, effective training, and a healthy and happy relationship with your dog.
Trust as the Foundation for Teaching
A trusting relationship is central to the training process. It is the support net for your dog as he learns to cope with the experiences and circumstances of the human world and what is expected of him.
Training facilitates communication and strengthens your bond with your dog. However, the dog must