Allowing: means to give the necessary time or opportunity to do something. Allowing the dog to work out a command that is being asked helps them to commit it to memory. Forcing through pressure may work temporarily but it breaks down the relationship and does not last.
All too often I run into clients who want an immediate result without allowing the dog to understand what is being asked and the time to comply. They believe some sort of force is needed to make the dog comply. This thought process will absolutely break down the trust you have built and cause lasting damage to your relationship. I have been working with many clients through my travel train program, where I travel the country spending 4 days training the client and their dog(s). In doing this I get to really see up close and personal the relationship between these clients and their dogs. Many clients are very dog savvy people and have owned dogs for decades and get a breed that just defies all they know about dogs and their previous methods just don’t work.
Force just pushes the dog to go on defense and look at their owner with caution and concern. This boils down to energy as well because in most cases the correction is given out of anger or frustration. A dog cannot listen or comply to a command when it is backed by that negative energy. So you think the dog is stubborn or "dumb" (yes several clients have believed their dogs were just too dumb to do what they asked), when in fact the dog is beginning to shut down and become cautious because of this exchange.
Building a clear Yes and No is extremely important. Corrections must be perfectly timed and must match the infraction. Sometimes a simple Verbal correction will help reset the dog and get it to focus, sometimes a slight leash tug with a verbal correction is needed and sometimes a stronger correction is needed especially if what the dog is doing could cause harm to itself or someone else.
In the first video we have Bella a 12 week old mini doodle. This is her first time learning the "Leave it" command. With this particular command I allow Bella to try to lick, scratch, and maybe nibble a little to try to get the treats. I want her to learn to stop those behaviors Through Allowing. This helps her problem solve and builds a strong memory picture for her. If I flicked her nose with my finger for doing any of those behaviors that would be a harsh correction for something simple. Instead I would just move her away and keep the lesson going. You will see she is super excited and she happens to love the treats I’m using. Watch her expressions as she begins to really get what I’m asking.
The second video we have Jasper a 1 yr old wirehaired pointing griffon. This is his first time learning the "Place" command. I already showed him what I want and now the owner is showing him. The place command is an implied down and stay. When he gets on the place bed he should go right into a down. We want him to figure it out on his own so we use a verbal correction and a slight leash tug if he doesn’t comply. I always start with just the verbal correction and move to a leash tug and verbal correction if he is stuck or if he has been shown what to do and is doing it and then decides to do his own thing. We want to set him up for success so if I want to reset him we just free him with the OK release command and then have him get back on. We have him on leash attached to his regular leather collar as a safety line in case he gets off the bed during the beginning phases of training.
Using force in either of these situations will just add confusion and break down trust. The corrections match the intensity of what the dog is doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment