Living with Dogs - Part One: Is your dog thriving or just surviving?

In recent weeks, the trainers of Front Range K9 and Denver Dog Dynamics have been kicking around an interesting thought:

"Why don't professional dog trainers' dogs have the same problems our client dogs have?"

When discussing our own dogs, trainers talk about drive and motivation, or reinforcement schedules and how to build a better mousetrap.  We hotly debate the four learning quadrants, whose technique of reward delivery is better, etc., etc.

But we rarely are troubled by the dog who is dumping the trash, peeing all over the house, chewing our shoes, guarding the sofa, or is at risk of biting the neighbor's child.

Why is this?

There could be quite a few reasons for this, of course.

One reason could be that pet owners don't have all the same information or experience that dog trainers have.  (If they did, dog trainers wouldn't have jobs!)

Another reason could be that dog owners don't always have the best physical training skills - their timing of rewards and corrections, and their consistency (or lack thereof) can make training a struggle for them, and for their dogs...

...not to mention frustrating the heck out of their dog trainers!

(I can't believe she just said that out loud!)

Yet experience shows us that both humans and dogs are very capable of learning new skills, and that consistency and practice does improve the skills of both.

So why, even after taking training classes and often improving their training skills greatly, do some owners still report problems that dog trainers almost never experience in their own dogs?

Does the general public just have 'bad dogs'?   Are they just bad dog owners/trainers?  I don't think so.  But what's the big secret dog trainers know that owners don't?

The missing puzzle piece lies in the way the most dog owners live with dogs - as opposed to the way most dog trainers live with dogs.

All of the dog trainers I know live with their dogs in a much different way than average pet owners live with theirs.

Whether trainers have a single dog, or a horde like I do, they all follow tenants of leadership and guidance that most pet owners just don't (or won't).

It all comes back to basics:

During our first meeting with most dog owners at the training facility, we talk about the 3 F's:

• Food
• Freedom
• Furniture (or where the dog sleeps)

In upcoming posts, I'll be going into a lot more detail about the 3 F's, but suffice it to say that these 3 things are seen as valuable resources by all dogs on some level (and by most humans, too, if you think about it).

And demonstrating and maintaining control of those valuable resources - throughout the life of the dog - is something that comes naturally to dog trainers.

Dog trainers don't view feeding schedules, kennel/crate time, or sending our dogs to their own beds when we want the whole couch to stretch out on as 'punishment.'

And neither should dog owners see it that way.

Dog trainers also don't view the reinforcement of these activities, guidelines, and rules as temporary.

When do you stop parenting a child?  Most parents who are worth their weight in gold will tell you "Never."

When do you stop communicating with your child?  Never.  We guide and teach our children for their entire lives.

This ongoing communication and education and guidance is part of what defines us as pack animals -  kinda like dogs!

Why, then, do so many dog owners look forward to the day when "training is over, and the dog can just be a good dog."

The dog is a good dog because you never stop teaching it, guiding it, and communicating with it!

There is no magic date when you can stop being the responsible one in the relationship, because the dog has suddenly turned into something you are no longer responsible for.  It is, after all, a dog.

And even the very brightest of dogs still have the moral reckoning of about a 2 or 3 year old child.

Really - would you want a child totally in charge of it's own life - or yours?

I'll admit it.  I've gotten lax recently about really making a big deal out of owner responsibility and the dog's need for guidance.  It's no fun telling 200 or 300 new people a year that the way they are living with their dogs is a big part of what is causing the dogs' problems.

Owners so often see 'the rules' as a negative.  But I am on a mission to change that.

It's time for dog owners to recognize that lifetime commitment to a dog is not just about feeding and housing them.

It's not just about taking a few training classes and calling it good.

It's also not just about buying the most expensive toys, bedding, and food and thinking throwing money at the problems will help.

It's about taking responsibility for a life and a mind that needs our guidance; in fact - a mind and spirit that is not as equipped to deal with our world as we are.

And now - for the BIG SECRET that all dog trainers know:

When a human does embrace all parts of dog ownership - from spoiling them rotten with all the best toys and food, to setting and maintaining clear guidelines on how to survive in a truly crazy, confusing human world - something amazing happens.

Dogs thrive.





Jennifer Hime is the a canine behavior consultant and lead trainer and owner of Front Range K9 Academy in Wheat Ridge, CO.  She can be contacted through her website at www.k9counselor.com.