playing vs. training

I was talking the other day with a fellow trainer and some interesting topics came up; one I thought I would discuss here.

It seems people are all-too anxious to "train" their dogs and miss one of the most fundamental elements necessary to train: relationship. I've discussed this over and over again in my lectures as well as my articles and posts, but I want to address it again.

Beginning with training before you have a relationship with a dog can be very detrimental to the relationship between you and your dog as well as the overall development of the dog, in particular if the dog is too young or immature. What is paramount is to set up learning and interactions with a dog in a fun manner and in a way that will induce the dog to learn. The way to do this is to develop a relationship with your dog (or the dog you are training). This relationship, usually done through playing, will set the stage for all further training. A dog that looks to a human is half-way trained. A dog that doesn't look toward a human must later be forced to do so and then he is forced to comply - all of this is unfair and highly un-necessary if the right steps are taken in the very beginning.

Now, on a very important note, we should be aware that dogs are opportunists and "un-learn" things (such as bad habits) very slowly. That is to say, bad habits die hard. If you allow a puppy to get away with stupid behavior, you'll be fixing it later on. And fixing these things later on usually involves compulsion (or corrections). This can be avoided by introducing structure into training right from the beginning.

I believe in playing games with dogs, engaging them and teaching them through this engagement. This makes training fun and fair for the dog and easy for the humans.

Enjoy training your dog and you'll have a well trained dog!

Robert Cabral
www.blackbeltdogtraining.com
www.boundangels.org