Kirby Mountain Sporting Dogs
Real Expectations
By now we have made it
through the holiday season and are into the new year. The beginning of a new year or a new task is
a great time to set goals or align expectations. This should include our expectations and our
goals with our hunting companion as well.
The trouble with training your dog to be a well behaved obedient
companion dog or a well trained hunting companion is that in theory
explanations are simple. In practice, however, it becomes more complicated and
so most dogs are not trained and poor behavior is accepted and many times even
expected.
With the exception of about
10% of the dogs in this country, the training of a dog is less than ten
commands or tasks which you need to do over 500 times each. Once you have mastered this you are on your
way to a trained dog. Many of us living
in 2003 are caught up in what I refer to as the “Mastercard
mentality,” 0% down, no payments for 15 months, go now- pay later, don’t save
up but have in now. Dog training doesn’t
work that way. It is like making
deposits into an account, small regular deposits, over and over and over
again. Years of small deposits are the
training sessions that will pay you back twofold.
You can make withdrawals as
long as you don’t take out more than you have put in. Deficit spending does not work in dog
training. What will work is many small deposits and occasional withdrawals. In other words, train-train-train and enjoy
some small successes in the beginning but larger more comprehensive payments of
positive behavior as the dog matures.
This practice is the key to success in dog training.
The next train of thought
will not only burst your bubble, but will hurt your feelings as well: Your dog does not do good things or behave
well because it loves you or is bonded to you.
If it has done good things without training it is because it felt like
doing the act at that time, or because you were lucky.
As a pro trainer many, many
dog owners will come here and show me what they have trained their dog to
do. When I go hunting with different
people they are also excited to show me what they have done with their
dogs. Unfortunately, the dogs’ behavior
does not meet their expectations in the situations. It seldom unconditionally obeys the owner,
and yet when I step in I get the desired response (without exception).
The question I ask all of
them is: “Why does your dog listen and obey me (a person the dog does not love
or has not bonded with) better than it does to you?” My answer is two-fold: First, I give the dog a clear command such
as, “Buck come.” I do not expand and
say, “Buck come, come on boy, Buck get over here, Buck you know better than
this, Buck, Buck, Buck, please come, Now
Buck, COME! Come on Buck, we really need
to get going, now come.”
I do not elevate my voice and
scream out of control because it serves no purpose. The dog hears you just fine. People react in this way out of frustration,
not understanding at that moment, once you have already lost control of your
dog, no amount of talking, reasoning, and yelling will make him obey. Persistent
training and clear, concise commands will keep your dogs’ behavior in
check. Training for good behavior and
having realistic expectations and consequences keeps your dog healthy and
enjoyable.
The second thing I do that
allows me to be successful in dog handling is that I do whatever it takes to
make the dog comply. Yes, at times that
does mean discomfort to the dog, but more often it is emotional discomfort to
the owner. We have developed into a very
polite, fluffy society and have come to believe out of self-importance that the
dog should comply, especially since my dog loves me so much and has bonded with
me. However, just as a parent has a
responsibility in child rearing, we have a responsibility to our dog to take
the necessary steps in training and handling to protect our animals. We need to provide the safest environment and
to exercise control over the animal to train it to be a good citizen. Until it
is mature and trained to a degree that it obeys unconditionally it is your
responsibility to do whatever it takes to keep your dog out of harms way. As my wife always reminds me in reference to
our children, “I am their parent and their teacher first, I am not their
friend. Someday I can be their friend,
but for now I have a responsibility to them and I will follow through on that
because I love them.” End of story.
Another example of this
situation is that on several occasions I have hunted with others. They have commanded (more like pleaded or
begged) the dog to do something. They
continue with the stream of requests and 9 times out of 10 the dog blows them
off. When I make the owner aware of what
is happening the most frequently asked question is
(often in a defensive way), “Well you’re the dog trainer, what should I do
now?”
The problem is not what to do
now, it is what should we have done before. This dog is only doing what it has been
trained (allowed) to do. We need to go
back to the leash, check cord, E-collar or maybe a little physical correction
with the dog. If you train your dog to
do what you expect of it and then you follow through with the expectation and
then a consequence for noncompliance you are behaving in a truly responsible,
and yes, loving way. Consistent clear
commands followed by consequences for non compliance (not to be confused with punishment)
is the key to successful dog handling.
Unfortunately, most people
will start with repeated voice commands followed by louder, faster, more
confusing commands, followed by screaming or whistle blowing. The dog knows the routine and that the next
step will be that the owner will simply give up and the dog gets to continue to
do as it wishes. The owner has trained
the dog that the WORDS MEAN NOTHING- without action.
The reason on paper sounds
simple-make many deposits of training and correct the dog no matter what when
it disobeys. Follow through with a leash
correction, check cord, E-collar, or run the dog down (without saying a word!),
or go in the water when it is fooling around with a duck and won’t come to
shore. You should see the look on a
playful retriever’s face when a fast moving 225 lb human is closing in on it
when it is out playing in the decoys. I
have done this many times and yes, I get wet and cold but I also get the peace
of mind that with this continued activity on my part I will have a dog that
will be under control and therefore safe.
I expect a behavior and am prepared to do what I need to do to get the
behavior in order to keep my dog and myself safe. In this way of training and handling a dog it
knows there are consequences to its action or lack of it and it complies
because of this, not because it loves me or is bonded to me.
To get back to the original
point, don’t expect your dog to learn obedience in the hunting scene. This year, for example, my Grouse, Woodcock,
and duck season were all short lived. We
had extreme heat at first combined with 40% decrease in birds due to spring
rain and cold. Add to that an injured
back, a week of the flu an unexpected problem with the duck boat and an early
winter. How could you enjoy a short
season if you are busy chasing and yelling at your dog?
You need to go into the
season, short or long with a dog ready to perform. You need the basics way before opening
day-train, train, train.
As you have this break over
the winter think about training and then do it.
Start today with short obedience sessions and as soon as April come
train three sessions a week until October and you and your companion will out
do your expectations.
Good luck and great hunting
John
January 1, 2003
goldy©2003