- October 19, 2018
- Posted by: optimaadmin
- Category: Coaching The Handler
As a dog trainer, I feel it is important to ask my clients to make sure that what they are asking for in terms of training is really accurate and can actually be accomplished in the manner they are wishing for it to be done. There are a few aspects of training that need to be understood and they are:
- What is training? Training is the action of teaching a person or animal a particular skill or type of behavior.
- What is behavior exactly? Behavior, in the case of dogs, is the dog’s response to a given stimulus (e.g. the doorbell, someone new coming in the house, jumping, biting, potty training etc.)
- What is obedience exactly? Obedience, again in the case of dogs, is compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority. For example, to teach the dog to sit, lay down, come, heel and stay is obedience training.
- Training environment vs success rate – When I am asked to work with a dog and the client is expressing to me that the dog is jumping on people, biting etc what I am hearing is that we need to work at home because it is not possible to “fix” behaviors once you take the dog away from the environment where the behavior is being exhibited. Behaviors are location, people and stimulus specific. In other words, you cannot bring the dog to class and hope that you are going to fix jumping on people or fix biting.
Obedience training can be done anywhere as it should not be specific to a location for the dog. I usually suggest to my clients that the very best place to start obedience training with a dog, be it a young dog or an older dog, is at home where there are a minimum of distractions and it is easier to get the dog to focus. Then, as the handler and the dog gain proficiency with the commands, I suggest starting in a class.
I hope this helps you.
Happy Dog = Happy You!
Julie