Good Dog Training is Boring…And It Should Be!
Here’s the thing about good dog training and behavior modification. It isn’t flashy. It often doesn’t have a wow factor. It isn’t a 60 second transformation. It’s methodical, slow, and low emotion.
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Good dog training means looking at why the dog is performing that behavior, utilizing management, and meeting the dog’s needs before you even try to start changing or teaching the behavior. In this video, I’m playing playground background noise during a training session. Oliver was getting wiggly and excited near playgrounds and parks because he works and lives with kids.
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Good dog training isn’t seeing the dog’s current behavior and punishing so it’s less likely to happen again or forcing them to do something they don’t want to or don’t understand. To me, that is lack of understanding of dog’s emotional and mental wellbeing. Instead of taking him to the park and seeing the behavior we didn’t want to see again, we took a step back and set Oliver up for success to build stimulus control.
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Good dog training is meeting the dog where they’re at and going from there. It’s realistic expectations and never forcing the dog to perform behaviors they are not comfortable with. Before these sessions Oliver gets playtime and we started at a low volume and extremely high rate of reinforcement for disengaging from the noise. Nothing crazy, no 60 second fix. Just good dog training.
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Good dog training is educating the caretakers and ensuring their needs are met with the training, too. Education happens for every learner, not just the dog. It isn’t blaming the dog parents for their dog’s behaviors or emotions. I met with Oliver’s guardian to work on this behavior after they saw his focus on the kids playing at the bus stop was making it hard for him to settle and focus. We discussed the body language they were seeing, his learning threshold in these high excitement and energy situations, and what were going to do moving forward. Clear plans with clear goals.
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We’re here to help! How do you meet your dog’s needs to make training easier.
