The Dog Blog

Wishing it so doesn't always make it so. But today I like to think Sam learned the magic of wishing and his mom saw a dream come true. Today Sam had 2 doctor appointments. Never a fun task. Two in one day! Often, per mom's reports, such endeavors involve lots of dragging of child and same child kicking, slapping, punching, screaming, and other uncooperative gestures expressing his disdain. The more dangerous behaviors include bolting without regard or awareness of safety. But today, on only the second public access outing I directly supervised since paired with Bubbles just over 3 weeks ago, it was an unqualified success. At least the first appointment and our subsequent outing to visit some of my favorite dogs!

One of the most important lessons to pass on to your dog is the meaning of the word ‘No’.  Those of you who train positively, as I do, may be surprised at my focus on the negative.  However, things may make more sense if I explain that the less your dog hears this magic word, the more of an impression it will actually have on his behaviour & his response to you.  

The average pet dog owner often gets things quite muddled when teaching their dogs the basis of what they can & can’t do.  An 8 week old puppy comes in the home full of willingness to learn.  A veritable blank slate on which you, the owner must fill in the do’s & don’t of life.  If we try to see the world from the puppy’s point of view it’s clear that what they learn, & what their owner is desperately trying to teach them, are often two very different things. 

It's been exactly two weeks since Bubbles paired with Sam. I have to admit I'm quite impressed with the speed with which they have bonded although I'm not surprised. It really speaks to my motto of getting the right make and model of dog for the job. And there's the significant and measurable improvements in Sam's behavior since the match. Best stated in mom's own words in her growing blog.

To have gone from freak out fear of the dog on Labor Day a month ago to running joyfully with his blond cohort and her peers in a group class is just short of awe-inspiring. You just can't help falling in love with this boy!

A second home visit, a few group dog training classes, a rainy but fun filled DIP and a public access field trip to a therapeutic swimming lesson have all occurred in this time frame and the bonding and functionality of Bubbles with Sam is only just beginning.

“My dog is stubborn.  I’ve tried everything and none of it worked!  I don’t think my dog can be trained.”  Most dog trainers hear some variation of that refrain from novice dog owners every day.  Needless to say, these dogs can be trained.  They’re probably not even especially challenging dogs to train.  Their owners just need to master a couple of key concepts:  consistency and perseverance.   Few human habits play such a critical role in training a well-mannered family pet.  If your dog has a bad habit that you just can’t solve, the odds are overwhelming that one of two things is going on.  Either you have failed to figure out a way to keep the behavior from being rewarding for your dog or you found the right way to fix it and gave up too easily.  I once saw a brilliant illustration of the concept on ABC’s reality show SuperNanny that I often share with my students.