I was watching another one of those dog training videos that pop up in my social media feed. In this case, it was of a well-known dog trainer being rough with a puppy.
This guy is known for using a lot of force on dogs. It is easy to use a lot of force when that is your “go to” when training dogs because you have crossed that boundary that what you want is more important than how the dog is doing. The dog in the video cries out, the trainer excuses it as the dog being a weakling. He gets the dog back on track because the dog has good drive, but he isn’t seeing how the dog is then distancing himself from the trainer.
The demands on the dog were greater than the skills taught up to that point. Totally unfair.
Many people plant the seeds of their destruction long before the catastrophe manifests.
You see this in relationships. People say, “I do”, but they really mean “I might” or “While it is convenient.” That small compromise plants a seed that will lead to a future divorce. It would have been better if they had never married. Divorce isn’t a small thing. A failed relationship can steal away precious years and opportunities that sometimes can never be recovered.
Similar things can happen in dog training.
I purposely “tie” my new students’ hands behind their back by not letting them correct their dogs. It is too easy for a student to start relying on force (psychological or physical). I want them to learn to work out a problem with their dog without being able to correct their dogs. Yes, that can be frustrating at first. I want them to learn to not lose their cool, to figure out how to work with and communicate with their dog, and how to build and maintain skills. Anyone can correct a dog. Anyone can wreck a dog or limit their dog’s potential. Many trainers shouldn’t be training dogs… at all. At least until they learn self-mastery and how to work with a dog.
There is a place for corrections in training, to get dogs back on track. I was working with a student today on a Sit/ Stay. The dog stepped off before being released. My student did a light verbal correction, and the dog backed up and sat back down right where he was supposed to be. The correction was well timed, appropriate, and it was a course correction to get the dog back on track. That’s all. The dog wasn’t being defiant. The dog didn’t yelp out. After the light verbal correction, the dog remedied the mistake himself. So cool to see.
We are working on a larger challenge for her dog. I outlined a scenario I want her to be able to do with her dog. This Sit/ Stay was a small part of a larger picture. Part of the rules of this exercise was that she couldn’t use a leash (the dog was dragging a safety line, but not for corrections) or any touch or harsh verbal correction. I tied her hands, and I let her know that was what I was asking. I want her to master some important skills. Whereas the above-mentioned trainer scared and intimidated his dog and blamed the dog’s reaction on the dog being a weakling, my student’s dog took the correction in stride, got back on track, without sacrificing the relationship or the exercise. No egos were involved, just good training.
I don’t want students planting the seeds of destruction into their relationships with their dogs or the exercises we are doing. That trainer’s dog, above, is going to have lasting side effects, not good ones, because of that rough and unfair treatment. My students shouldn’t have those result if they stick with my program. I have a keen eye looking for any small details that could result in short- or long-term setbacks. My student told me that her previous trainer didn’t point any of this out to her and she was very glad that my approach was different. I explained that many new trainers are in the business because they have mastered social media marketing, not because they have mastered how to train dogs and their owners. A lot of what needs to be learned can’t be found in a book or a typical online, formulaic, unsophisticated dog training program. They need to get their hands “dirty” working a lot of dogs and prefer doing the training over the marketing of training services.
I would rather be Rocky II than Apollo Creed in the second movie: training in the gritty gym instead of the posh hotel. I’d rather be training with Apollo Creed in the gritty Skid Row gym in Rocky III than the posh hotel he was using in the beginning of the movie. You don’t ever want to lose touch with training real dogs, you don’t want to lose the hunger or fire, or to stop grinding out the repetitions when the cameras are not rolling. Sometimes trainers let their fame and desire for ribbons or money override the discernment of whether what they are doing is good for the dogs. A chase for meaningless outcomes at the cost of the dog just makes you a circus clown doing a show for the audience.
If you train with me, I’m also going to start you over from scratch, regardless of your pedigree. I’m going to give you challenges that test your skills, character and motivation. What can you do without correcting a dog? Can you do complex tasks and push your dog’s talents? How far can I push your talent? Anyone can force a dog to do something, but that isn’t the definition of being a good dog owner or trainer… and that approach will always plant the seeds of destruction of the dog in the long run. Maybe when I trust you, I’ll untie one of your hands and let you try out a correction, and see if you maintain the standards. You have to be a white belt before you can be a black belt.
Dogs deserve the dignity of being treated and trained well. They don’t deserve to be sabotaged.
Plan accordingly.