January is a time for both reflection and renewal. As you make plans and resolutions for a fresh year, may I recommend taking time to reflect upon your relationship with your canine companion? As a trainer, generally when someone comes to see me about an issue they are experiencing, or when I witness people in their homes or at the park with their dog, there are two areas where most people could improve their behavior—and do better by their dog.
Notice I said that you,the human,could improve your behavior. If you do better by your dog, your dog will do better. In all things. Training, playing, relaxing, going to the vet,and more.
The first area where I see room for improvement in most human/dog relations is in regards to planning quality time and enrichment for your dog. The second area where most people fall a bit short is in providing clear communication when it comes to expectations and training. As it so happens, if you, the handler, focus on these two aspects of your relationship, you will greatly improve your dogʼs quality of life, too.
Living with a dog is not a responsibility one should take on lightly, especially in our busy modern world. After all, a dog is a sentient being of another species with needs and desires that are unique to their kind. Sometimes I think we forget about this part and treat dogs as honorary humans, or as furry playthings there for our amusement and enjoyment. Donʼt get me wrong; I definitely see dogs as part of the family, and my entire career is based on helping people get pleasure out of living with a dog. However, I strongly believe the best way to both honor your best friend and live harmoniously with her is to see and accept her for who and what she really is rather than try to force a square peg into a round hole.
All too many times people seek out professional dog trainers only to get their dog to stop doing things. Stop sniffing on walks, stop chewing my things (that are on the floor), stop jumping up to greet people … The list is endless. It is very sad to me that so many people really want their dog to stop being a dog. So many people are unwittingly asking for their dog to serve as a sort of automaton, ready to roll when itʼs convenient but to pretty much power down at all other times. Instead of just saying no, I would much rather see folks providing appropriate outlets for their dogʼs doggy behaviors and desires. Iʼd prefer guardians incorporate focused activities such as scent games to channel their pupʼs sniffer. Or at least that walks could have interspersed intervals of letʼs go or loose-leash walking with sniffing and ranging breaks when a dog is free to explore a bit and catch up on pee mail. I would love if all guardians understood that while dogs do sleep about 16 to 18 hours a day, at least a few of their waking hours daily should include enrichment, such as food-dispensing toys, training, hiking, and games. So as you review your dogʼs schedule, please consider whether you are doing enough to keep her sated and sane.
This idea of accepting that your dog naturally has canine tendencies ties in nicely with my other area of concern, providing clear communication for your dog. Even though I do feel itʼs important to let dogs be dogs, I fully understand they must also learn how to curb their inclinations from time to time in order to live in polite society. For example, as I mentioned above, many people become frustrated with their dog for jumping up excitedly to greet people. My first thought here is actually, congratulations, you have a friendly dog. My second thought is if you donʼt like the behavior you dog has chosen in a given situation, by all means, please train him to do something else. This is what I mean by clear communication. It is essential for you to have clear expectations about how you would like your dog to behave in any given situation, and then it is your job to teach your dog the behavior youʼd like to see by breaking it down into small components to assure ease of learning and success. Break every end goal into at least three if not five or six separate pieces and use them as building blocks to create the desired final result. Treat training like a performance that must be practiced until it is fully integrated and fluid. This is how you change behavior successfully: Break it down into segments so you can build it up.
By thoughtfully fine-tuning your interactions with your dog, you will indeed get a better-behaved dog and happier dog. That, my dear readers, is called relationship, and dog training is all about relating. So what is your canine resolution going to be for 2016?
Kelly Gorman Dunbar is director of the Center for Applied Animal Behavior, where she recruits and trains instructors for the Dunbar family business, Sirius Puppy & Dog Training. She is the creator of the Sirius Sniffers scent-detection program. Gorman Dunbar is also founder and president of Open Paw and consults on various matters.
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