“ABOUT YOUR DOG TRAINING EXPERIENCE”
So you signed up for a dog training course to maybe get your dog to listen to you or stop doing harmful or destructive behaviours at home? These are great objectives to have!
However, the main aim of training should be to help your puppy or dog become a happy member of the household and build on good behaviours. Here are some more ideas to understand before beginning training.
1.
“3-5 Sessions of Dog Training will set my dog up forever”
The behaviour training that you do and learn during our sessions, is only an introduction to a lifelong process of companionship and enjoyment, it is not a once-off experience that your dog will now all of a sudden be an expert at.
Dogs are lifelong explorers and learners, they adapt and change all the time, they might even exhibit new behaviours at any point in their life.
2.
“I’m doing this, so an expert can train my dog, not me”
Although, dog trainers are experts at interpreting dog behaviour and teaching canines new behaviours and cues. Our main objective is to educate and empower you to observe and positively guide your dog through every day life.
So, the measure of success from our training courses is not that your dog has learned to respond to a cue 100% (although this is a shared goal) but it is that you have learnt how to observe and communicate successfully with your dog.
3.
“Once a dog is set in their ways, they will never change”
We often hear “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” but that is untrue, adult dogs can learn new skills at any age. However, if our dogs are overwhelmed, families can emotionally check out and rather than seek help for their for-member. This leads to incorrectly reinforcing the undesirable habits, which then become a permanent part of their personality.
Even the most dedicated dog parent may need additional help leading their bouncy-barking-bundle of energy.
4.
“My dog purposefully acts up to get back at me”
We as humans, sometimes purposefully lash out when we are emotionally hurt by someone. But if your dog wees on the bed or chews up a favourite pair of shoes, it is not ‘payback’ for leaving them home alone. They do not understand “revenge”.
Yes certainly, your dog’s actions might be a result of the loneliness, boredom or anxiety caused by isolation – but not revenge.
5.
“Training didn’t work for my dog”
It is normal for you to get tired and frustrated when you do not see immediate and permanent success during or even after initial training efforts. However! Every dog shows progress differently and if the client does not implement the work we have learned, there will not be a difference in your dog’s behaviour. It takes time for the training you are doing with your dog, to become a daily habit.
Additionally, sessions do need to be reinforced by steady, continued positive training. It is also not uncommon to repeat a training class to help reinforce what you have both learned.
It is important to know that as a dog parent, you are expected to get training or ask behavioural advice whenever your dog needs it.