The no-nonsense dog talk column
Listen to your trainer
Time and time again, we encounter the same problem with the know-it-all student who already knows all the training advice and applications as soon as we finish saying or writing it. The trick to being a good student is to realize how little you know and to follow the directions your teacher gives you to the letter. This being said I understand that the teacher sometimes can learn from the student but for the sake of this article, let's go with the law of averages. If your teacher tells you to wait two weeks before socializing your dog, please interpret this as a week having seven days times two, the total being fourteen.
How many times have I heard "well it was going so well after the first two days, so I left them unleashed together in the yard and... oh my god! I don't understand... they had a fight!"
I know now with the internet age and the advice of your grocer, your barber and your mechanic, we all have the info to adequately train our dogs. But since we don't all cut our own meat, cut our own hair, or fix our own car, we must realize the dire need of a professional to help train our dog and hopefully train us at the same time.
There are many different types of trainers. Please find one that uses positive reinforcement. We are no longer in the dark ages where we have to choke, prong, yell or slap our dog to submission. The relationship you need to develop with your dog is one of mutual respect. Remember that as you're trying to communicate with your dog, he is also trying to communicate with you. Since we are the species with the bigger brain, we have the higher responsability of UNDERSTANDING THEM FIRST BEFORE WE CAN EXPECT THEM TO UNDERSTAND US.
Dogs use signals to communicate. These signals are one language used by every dog on this planet. No matter where you go, if you can interpret these signals, you can communicate with them. The best teacher of these signals is Turid Rugaas, a lady I had the pleasure of meeting and learn from.
"My wish would be to live in a society where dogs are respected and treasured for who they are. It would be a place where dogs are walked at leisure on harness and a loose leash along roads with traffic, and off leash in parks, woods and fields. No shouting, irritation, only a pleasant and friendly atmosphere between dog and owner- and other people. Nobody jerking or hauling dogs along, but letting them sniff the smells they find interesting and allowing them to look at things that are happening around them." Turid Rugaas
All this being said, I believe this world described by Turid can happen if we put our arrogance aside for the sake of learning so we can be the best teachers possible to our canine friends. If you're having problems achieving this, then you need a good teacher to show you how to communicate with your dog so you can teach it all that you want. Don't forget negative reinforcement may seem to work temporarily but the stress it will cause your dog will last a lifetime.
