When an owner reaches out for help attaining their dog training goals their relationship with their dog has often reached a breaking point. The issue is creating discomfort in the home that exceeds the owner’s ability to ameliorate on their own. Frustration, embarrassment, fear, and guilt prevail and derail rational efforts to address the problem. Something has to give.
When Perceived Dog Training Goals Diverge from Reality
Key terms clue us into larger underlying problems. “He just loves everyone so much” is code for the dog loses control in social situations. A dog that “pulls because he wants to say hi” hasn’t learned to manage their own frustration. While these issues may seem simple on the surface, they likely mask underlying issues like anxiety, fear, or stress. Getting the owner to recognize the underlying issue is half the battle. Almost everyone recognizes that the dog’s behavior is in need of overhaul. Very few, however, recognize their own contribution to the patterns that contribute to predictable but problematic canine behavior.
Fast Tracking Owner Skill Acquisition
So, while an owner may reach out for help teaching their dog to stop jumping on guests, in reality it is the skillset of the owner that we address through ‘dog’ training. It’s relatively easy to teach a dog to sit on verbal cue. It’s harder to teach the owner to recognize when their own behavior facilitates undesirable behaviors from the dog. Anticipating sudden changes in environmental variables that cause changes in behavior on the part of the dog can be hard for trained professionals. As trainers, we have to impress this skillset quickly upon owners in order to bring about prompt achievement of the requested dog training goals.
The Components of Good Dog Training Goals
Owning a well-behaved dog is an admirable dog training goal. A dog that has learned troublesome habits in the past requires even more intentional effort. Clients often remark that we make dog training look easy. As trained professional dog trainer we hone these skills on a daily basis. It’s literally our job! Our clientele, however, have other priorities. Ultimately, the skill we as trainers have mastered primarily includes recognizing when a dog is approaching threshold. Simultaneously, we must proactively keep that dog under threshold. Identifying a dog’s key motivations in any situation is crucial, also. We then use those motivations effectively to reinforce desired behaviors. This seems a little different than teaching a dog to walk nicely on leash. In reality, it is mastery of these foundational skills that allow us to fast track any dog through basic obedience. These same tools help rectify behavior problems.
Embracing Responsibility
Showing someone how to lure their dog to sit IS easy. Teaching owners to embrace the responsibility of acting proactively is hard! Learning to track changing variables in the environment in while predicting how those changes affect their dog will cause some frustration in the learning process. Particularly when the owner’s dog training goals are misaligned. The process of mastering behavior changes in the dog the achieved only when the owner masters (or at least achieves proficiency in) the timing of effective reward delivery. Mastering this timing to requires repetition and reflection. So yes, training the dog is easy. It’s the human training that is challenging!
Unfortunately, because our training packages don’t come with a live in dog trainer, we have to fast track our client’s dog handling skills. Sometimes owners balk at the realization that they have a bigger role to play than they initially anticipated. Add to it the compounding challenge of working owners and busy families. For this reason, our goals for our clients are often different from our client’s goals for their own dog.
Setting Realistic Expectations
One questions owners often ask is how long the training takes. This obviously depends on the severity of the dog’s transgressions and the owner’s ability to dedicate time to the training process. Skill acquisition is a journey. Consider that habits, good or bad, generally take 30-90 days to form. Once the habit is initially established, fluency must develop. This allows the habit to become proficient in a variety of situations. This process generally takes 6 months to a year. After this the new behavior theoretically has acquired enough practice to reach habituation. This is the point at which the new behavior has become so thoroughly engrained that it no longer requires such a large investment of mental energy to maintain the habit. It has become second nature to act in the appropriate manner, so to speak.
Client Training Goals
Once we get the owners on board with their foundation dog training goals the canine behavior challenges show an immediate reduction in severity. Here are some of the goals for clients that will lead to resolution of their canine conundrums.
Recognizing the dog’s communication signals
A client that is attuned to their dog’s body language can intervene promptly before their dog’s behavior escalates beyond control. Because behavior can change quickly, recognizing how the environment impacts their dog in the moment is vital for cases requiring behavior modification through desensitization and counter conditioning.
Understand their dog’s motivations and triggers
Thinking from the dog’s perspective isn’t intuitive for most people. What we see is a typical trash can. Your dog may see a scary rolling monster that heralds the arrival of the loud commotion of the trash truck. If your dog is in fear for their life, if doesn’t matter if it isn’t a big deal to you. Your dog isn’t going to respond to verbal cues or treats when they are afraid. Choosing the right reward to use an a reinforcer is important. Your dog may not want to be touched in the moment. You can’t use something as a reinforcer if your dog doesn’t find it rewarding in the first place. You could, in fact, punish your dog when you intend to reinforce them.
Communicating effectively with the dog
Humans talk a lot! What we often say with our mouths is often very different from the message conveyed with our bodies. Silence when the dog is need of more input says we aren’t reliable when needed. Talking too much interferes as the dog processes requests or acclimate to a new environment. Because of this, dogs often learn to tune their owners out. Once owners learn to give simple, relevant, well-timed prompts and consequences the dog understands and complies. Otherwise, it’s all background noise.
Efficient troubleshooting and problem solving in the moment.
Things don’t always go according to plan. When the proverbial and inevitable sh*t hits the fan, a savvy acts quickly. Owner must be able to withstand social pressure and make decisions that are in the best interest of their dog. Adjusting course on the fly and recognizing when it’s appropriate to settle on lesser achievements are vital for long term success. First we learn in environments designed to funnel us toward success. Then we pressure test those lessons in the real world that sometimes throws curveballs. Proficient dog handlers constantly course correct back toward the ultimate goal even when storms blows them off track.
Conclusion
It is vital to success that the owner understand their role in achieving their dog training goals. Changing habits is hard and frustration likely if the owner doesn’t understand why acquiring certain skills is important to achieving their desired outcome. Clearly communicating to the owner our expectations of their effort and delineating their path drives commitment. Ultimately our goal is to give our clients the tools to continue successfully handling their dog on their own, no matter the situation.
About Canine Solutions
The Certified Professional Trainers at Canine Solutions know the frustration and exasperation that goes along with doggy disobedience. Our journey began at the same point of exasperation that many of our clients reach before they are ready to ask for help. We’ve taken hundreds of hours of courses and continuing education to ensure that you are getting the best science-based information to address your canine conundrum. We work with clients virtually as well as providing in home and boarding school to clients in Leawood, Lenexa, Overland Park, Olathe and other cities Johnson County, KS and surrounding areas. We look forward to demonstrating the peaceful solutions through Positive Reinforcement Dog Training and assisting as you overcome behavioral challenges with your dog!