To quote Dale Carnegie – “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” This is one of the big fails in dog training today. Many owners want their dogs to take interest in them, to listen to them – not the other way around. Take an interest in your dog, find out what it wants and needs – find a way to give it to them through cooperation and you will see changes in a hurry.
All too often, I see the ideology in dog training on all sides of the spectrum – “listen to me or I’ll punish you in some way”. It’s more prominent on the balanced side of training but but still exists in the positive reinforcement realm. Withholding of treats is still a punishment and far worse than you realize. The dogs life tends to be all about what the human wants – and what the dog wants doesn’t seem to matter as much. The human creates all these rules for the dog, and punishes or rewards based on those rules. But the question is, does the dog understand your rules – and can you really punish for not understanding the rules that are being broken?
And that’s where we are throwing real “positive reinforcement” out the window. Your dog has a brain, they can think, they can problem solve, they can outthink their owners at times – dogs are not stupid. Dogs have wants and needs as well, just like us. When we find a way to get what we want – is that not a reward all its own?
Take a dog that is barking at the end of the leash. First of all, what is it barking at – and secondly, what do you think the dog wants? If the dog is barking at another dog, chances are good it wants to meet the dog. When the dog gets what it wants – that’s a reward – and people need to start figuring out how to give the dog what it wants. There is nothing wrong with that ideology.
If I’m working with a dog that’s barking at the end of the leash – at another dog. I’m going to make the safe assumption that the dog wants to meet the other dog. I have 2 choices – I can drag the dog away and start rewarding it – or I can figure out a way to set up a meeting calmly. This is where patience and cooperation come into play – you give me something, you get the reward of meeting that dog. You give me calm, you get what you want. Keep giving me calm, and the world becomes your oyster.
It’s self-gratification and it’s how I worked with Monty and other dogs. People think they want a well trained dog, but when they meet Monty – he’s what they really want.
Robert Hynes Dog Training
Serving Edmonton, Alberta and surrounding areas.
admin@roberthynesdogtraining.com