What exactly is the secret to having a calm, compliant, balanced well trained dog? Some would say having something high value the dog desires to work for, doing high repetition of good behavior so that the dog doesn’t know what bad behavior is or teaching a dog to do a good behavior in place of a bad. In my experience, the reward the dog gains from barking, pulling, chewing and jumping is far greater than any obedience drills or tasty treat you can give them.
From observing the current state of behavior, we commonly see out in the world, I think most of us who pay attention have seen that there is a lack of control. An unsuspecting dog owner who has listened to advice from the mainstream narrative don’t seam to have huge successes in their life with their dogs. In fact, we usually see the opposite. We see dogs pulling their owners, deciding where they want to go and who they want to sniff. We see dogs barking, jumping, biting, chewing and whining, yet despite the owner’s hard work to teach obedience using high value rewards. It still is not enough to prevent the unwanted behaviors. The outcome of this is owners feeling discouraged, burned out and thinking their dog is simply untrainable or could be the exception of training.
So, what exactly is the dog training mainstream narrative? In today’s ‘fur baby’ culture, the dogs in our lives are often viewed as equal or above us in importance. Not that we don’t love our dogs or care for them, but we must remember exactly who they are. Our dogs are predatory creatures that have teeth designed to tear meat and deserve every respect we ought to give them. Dogs are also animals. They communicate using body language, energy, physical correction with teeth, feet or a nudge. Why is it, when dogs primarily communicate in this way, that we are often told not to use what our dogs understand best? In my observations, humans tend to be emotionally charged when it comes to their dogs, and this greatly affects how we view them which then affects how we treat them.
Viewing your dog as an object to snuggle, shower with treats and affection and give unlimited freedom because they “deserve it” does your dog the biggest disservice imaginable when it is not balanced with rules, boundaries and structure. Our dogs can not enjoy these freedoms without parameters on how they ought to enjoy them. For example, every owner should want to allow their dog to run freely off leash. For most, letting your dog off leash without any parameters to follow results in your dog running away, approaching strangers from a distance, chasing wildlife, digging, eating trash, etc. Another practical example would be allowing your dog free access to your home. Without rules properly enforced, your dog will likely chew things, counter surf, bark out the window, jump on guests, etc. Rules, boundaries and structure are an absolute must before freedom and privileges. If you truly love your dog, you will put boundaries in practice!
Implementing boundaries for the first time can feel over whelming when there haven’t been boundaries there before and can often feel like micromanaging. It’s important to remember that building a trusting relationship takes time and is a journey of ups and downs. You might have a full day or days of discipline and massive amounts of structure but always keep your goals in mind and trust the process! Once your dog is aware of consequences that are meaningful and is submissive to your guidance, freedom and privileges will come naturally because there is more trust present. If you are lost on what boundaries, discipline, consequences and structure looks like, please reach out to me!
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