Consistency Is Key

Consistency Is Key

I have been giving this so much thought lately as I work with people and their dogs.  So much thought that I knew it is what I must write about this month!!  In all we do we absolutely achieve much better results when we work consistently.  But how do you know if you are working consistently if you don’t have a clear goal in mind? Ah… that is the root of consistency. You need to have a clear end goal to keep firmly in your mind as you approach doing anything.  So, now let’s apply this principle to dog training.

When you get a new puppy, your goals are many.  Potty train, leash train, basic commands, socialize etc. etc.  Every day it seems something new comes to mind because you have a young puppy throwing you off your game and you begin to think, “Oh yeah and I have to train for that, too!” But remember some of these early rabbit trails are born of sleep deprivation and frustration.  In the early days of your puppy’s life, I suggest you set the goal of potty training and crate training since they go hand in hand.  After that is well on its way to being solid, move on to your next goal.

But, now that you have your initial goal, let’s address consistency.  Let’s begin with the initial goal of potty training and crate training. Why do they pair up perfectly?  Great question!  You need to incorporate a solid crate schedule so that you can live your life and the puppy is not pottying at will all over your home.  To implement the consistency factor in this exercise, I recommend you select one door only to take the puppy out for every potty.  Remember CONSISTENCY IS KEY and this is your first goal, so stick to it and remain consistent.  The more consistent and intentional you are about creating the opportunities to go potty outside, the more quickly your puppy will learn that this is what you expect.  I also recommend keeping the puppy’s crate as close as possible to the door you will be using so that you can CONSISTENTLY show the pattern of coming out of the crate and immediately going out the door to go potty.

Now for fun, let’s look at this another way.  Possibly you are thinking “My end, ultimate goal is that I want my puppy to go out any door and go potty so I am going to change up what door I use all the time and how the puppy gets there (i.e. from our bedroom, from the basement etc) by sometimes walking and sometimes being carried because I want to teach my puppy flexibility.”  Ok now, can you feel how chaotic that feels?  Imagine how chaotic that feels to a tiny, little developing brain.

I go back to CONSISTENCY IS KEY and keep it simple. Your puppy will learn so much more quickly when you make the process simple, clean and CONSISTENT. Your big, ultimate end goal will happen organically.  As your puppy grows up, you will be able to go out any door you wish and your dog will know to go potty outside, trust me on this.

Maybe your next goal is to begin leash training.  Ok, let’s break it down.  Leash training is basically so you can take the dog on a walk, right? Begin by putting a flexi leash (yes I recommend a flexi leash for potty and initial walking, see my leash blog). Clip that flexi leash on the puppy’s collar and go for a “walk” to the end of your driveway letting the puppy explore and have fun.  It is not important to try to teach a young puppy to heal.

At this point it is important to let your puppy know that going for a walk is exciting and fun for both of you.  For right now remain CONSISTENT by not applying a bunch of rules to the walk.  The only rules to follow are stay out in front of me, don’t warp my legs up in the leash and let’s have fun enjoying each other’s company on a nice little walk.  After you both have this iced down, move along to the next goal of leash walking and possibly that is to learn to heel beside you for short distances while mixing in some decompressing time on the flexi leash all on the same walk.

In everything I encourage through my training, it is to keep your lessons short and remain very clear and CONSISTENT in your process.  Remember dogs LOVE CONSISTENT PROCESSES.

Here is an example from my own dogs.  Sammy is our youngest Brittany at this time.  We bred the litter and knew that the ultimate, end goal was to help him achieve his highest possible potential in the field of hunting.  So, at the young age of only 6 weeks old we would but a specific collar on him that only went on when we were going outside to play around with quail. We wanted to instill the idea that when he gets that collar on, we are going to work and we’re going to find birds. It didn’t take long until we saw that excitement in him when we pulled that specific collar out and put it on him.  He is now 14 months old and to this day, when he gets any collar on that I pull from my field training bag, he goes over the moon with excitement because he knows he will get to find birds now.  This was all done with CONSISTENCY from a very young age.

You, too, will move your training forward faster and will cement the lessons permanently when you are very CONSISTENT in your process. Let me know how I can help you. I am taking new clients on regularly.