Make vs. Want
A good many things found in the world of animal training are at extreme opposites. You have the treat end of the spectrum & the punishment end of the spectrum. Everyone has an opinion on why one is more right than the other. I look at training any animal from the point of view that when I pick up the lead, I want my dog to come to me eagerly anticipating what adventure we'll about to embark on. I do not want my dog to see me pick up the leash & get the look on his face that says he'd rather escape. Likewise I won't be the dog's treat dispenser. This is a personal choice & I do not critise others
I look at training a dog (or a horse for that matter) as partnership development. I use positive reinforcement: vocals & touch. I use correction: verbal & lead/collar correction. Perhaps one main difference is the fact that I work very hard to teach a dog in a way that the bond grows stronger as time is put into the relationship. When I show attention to something, so will my dogs. If I do my job, I will be the leader however there will be times I may call upon my dog to lead me. In order for that to happen, it's critical that I've done the work so I can rely on my dog in this way.
I was working with a young dog on an obstacle that she'd never seen before. A man was watching me do this & after thirty minutes or so of study, he declared he 'got it' & brought his dog out on lead & proceeded to do what he thought I was doing with my dog. I had to halt this very quickly as he was bullying his dog. Training was not taking place. In fact what he was doing was telling the dog to get up on this obstacle then he was dragging the dog up there. In that moment, the only thing the dog wanted to do was get away from him. The man was soon completely frustrated, deciding his dog was ignorant. Don't be too hard on this man. It's easy to see in this obvious example that he's wrong but we all do this in one form or another with our dogs until we learn to develop a deeper understanding a feel for what's happening.
When I asked for his dog's lead, I changed the conversation. Rather than working on the same obstacle, I took her to another. She eyed that first one like it was a boogie man who might jump out & bite her. This one was a very low level intensity; a simple tire laying on the ground. I told the dog, "let's go" & walked. She went with me. I walked putting the tire in the middle of my path & walked over it. It is normal to see the dog's ears flick to indicate on this odd thing in our path. When that flicker happened I said, "it's okay, I see it". I do this to acknowledge the dog's indication & to let the dog know where I stand on the issue (is it a problem, is it okay, is it a bottomless pit that might kill us all?). The dog has questions. The problem is that we generally don't see it or respond to those questions. On the next pass I asked the dog to step closer & go on the tire with me. I worked at this, each time asking the dog to put her feet on it. I corrected for wrong behavior, praised for correct response and all the while never forcing the dog onto anything. Once she got it & readily went onto the tire & would sit/stay or down/stay on it, I took her to the first obstacle her handler had chosen.
Now because with me on the end of the lead, it is not about dragging the dog anywhere. Dogs very quickly respond once they know the human on the end of their lead is paying attention & won't just blow through their concerns. I worked with her through her apprehension on that first obstacle. This makes the dog more willing to tackle the next obstacle but with less apprehension. What happens when the dog becomes uncertain? It's my job to reassure her. "It's okay" & to stay with her, to hang in there with that dog until she can move forward. Sometimes this may mean me moving one foot at a time until she sees that she can do it on her own. Some times it may require a little tough love, a little collar correction if she starts to do the wrong thing. Then praise when she corrects herself. Now the dog is progressing in a forward manner rather than being bullied into things & learning to tolerate it.
What happens with a dog that gets bullied? Well they learn to do a number of things in self preservation. Some dogs will shut down & go inside themselves hoping this will end soon. Others will lash out or try to bolt away from the thing. These dogs are often said to have a bad attitude. More over each of these incidences teaches the dog that their human can neither be counted on or trusted. It's not to say that sometimes a dog won't get an attitude about something or do the wrong thing but the first question we need to ask is "why?". The second thing we need to do is examine is the dog responding to being forced (make) vs being brought through the training in a way that provokes him to want to work with us.
For a good many years I tried various ways of doing things. I watched a number of people work dogs in tracking (dog tracking human scent). They use balls or toys for a reward, sometimes even food. My dogs don't get rewarded that way yet if I pick up a tracking line they come to life, eyes glittering with excitement, hoping to be the chosen dog. It's because every step of their training is developed through the dog's desire to want to work with me.
From the human stand point, it is very difficult to stop ourselves from just doing everything for the dog. Plus, we humans are always in a hurry. We have a schedule to keep. Yet the dog gets into trouble for not knowing things, for pulling back, for being hesitant. So it's easier to just pick the dog up & put her in the truck. Yet, if I plan to teach the dog this skill & I put the time in, he will be jumping up into the truck with a simply command & this is a benefit that will serve us for a lifetime! We may have a schedule but we owe it to our dogs to invest time into their education. So I can be in a hurry & make the dog. Some don't mind being lifted but it does nothing to add to the dog's education except that you'll lift, jam, shut the door & he'll have to deal with it. Or I can do the alternative which is teaching the dog, letting the dog build his communication skills through this training & in the end you have another skill between you & the dog as a team.
Bringing this even more into the human's realm of thinking, how fond are you of someone who forces you to do things? How well do you like it if someone grabs you up & shoves you into the seat of a carnival ride that you don't even know what it does? Even if it turns out okay, how trusting are you of that person? Again all of us have a different response to this sort of person but I believe if you think this through you'll get a glimpse of how our dogs must feel when we shove them into something they neither understand or have trained for. It's not fun. For me personally, I don't trust people who would treat me this way. So it goes for our dogs.
When looking through the dog's eyes, it's far more exciting to see that human coming at you with the leash if you have confidence that you'll be safe, that you'll work together at everything vs. the human who makes you do things. The result is the same: dog on ground, dog up in truck. But the delivery method of what we humans want & need from the dog makes all the difference in the world.
Think about make vs. want the next time you pick up your leash & remember, you can get the results you want if you only put the time in with the dog. You get the same results except the dog wants to be with you. Once you tap into this the learning potential is only limited by your mind.
I look at training a dog (or a horse for that matter) as partnership development. I use positive reinforcement: vocals & touch. I use correction: verbal & lead/collar correction. Perhaps one main difference is the fact that I work very hard to teach a dog in a way that the bond grows stronger as time is put into the relationship. When I show attention to something, so will my dogs. If I do my job, I will be the leader however there will be times I may call upon my dog to lead me. In order for that to happen, it's critical that I've done the work so I can rely on my dog in this way.
I was working with a young dog on an obstacle that she'd never seen before. A man was watching me do this & after thirty minutes or so of study, he declared he 'got it' & brought his dog out on lead & proceeded to do what he thought I was doing with my dog. I had to halt this very quickly as he was bullying his dog. Training was not taking place. In fact what he was doing was telling the dog to get up on this obstacle then he was dragging the dog up there. In that moment, the only thing the dog wanted to do was get away from him. The man was soon completely frustrated, deciding his dog was ignorant. Don't be too hard on this man. It's easy to see in this obvious example that he's wrong but we all do this in one form or another with our dogs until we learn to develop a deeper understanding a feel for what's happening.
When I asked for his dog's lead, I changed the conversation. Rather than working on the same obstacle, I took her to another. She eyed that first one like it was a boogie man who might jump out & bite her. This one was a very low level intensity; a simple tire laying on the ground. I told the dog, "let's go" & walked. She went with me. I walked putting the tire in the middle of my path & walked over it. It is normal to see the dog's ears flick to indicate on this odd thing in our path. When that flicker happened I said, "it's okay, I see it". I do this to acknowledge the dog's indication & to let the dog know where I stand on the issue (is it a problem, is it okay, is it a bottomless pit that might kill us all?). The dog has questions. The problem is that we generally don't see it or respond to those questions. On the next pass I asked the dog to step closer & go on the tire with me. I worked at this, each time asking the dog to put her feet on it. I corrected for wrong behavior, praised for correct response and all the while never forcing the dog onto anything. Once she got it & readily went onto the tire & would sit/stay or down/stay on it, I took her to the first obstacle her handler had chosen.
Now because with me on the end of the lead, it is not about dragging the dog anywhere. Dogs very quickly respond once they know the human on the end of their lead is paying attention & won't just blow through their concerns. I worked with her through her apprehension on that first obstacle. This makes the dog more willing to tackle the next obstacle but with less apprehension. What happens when the dog becomes uncertain? It's my job to reassure her. "It's okay" & to stay with her, to hang in there with that dog until she can move forward. Sometimes this may mean me moving one foot at a time until she sees that she can do it on her own. Some times it may require a little tough love, a little collar correction if she starts to do the wrong thing. Then praise when she corrects herself. Now the dog is progressing in a forward manner rather than being bullied into things & learning to tolerate it.
What happens with a dog that gets bullied? Well they learn to do a number of things in self preservation. Some dogs will shut down & go inside themselves hoping this will end soon. Others will lash out or try to bolt away from the thing. These dogs are often said to have a bad attitude. More over each of these incidences teaches the dog that their human can neither be counted on or trusted. It's not to say that sometimes a dog won't get an attitude about something or do the wrong thing but the first question we need to ask is "why?". The second thing we need to do is examine is the dog responding to being forced (make) vs being brought through the training in a way that provokes him to want to work with us.
For a good many years I tried various ways of doing things. I watched a number of people work dogs in tracking (dog tracking human scent). They use balls or toys for a reward, sometimes even food. My dogs don't get rewarded that way yet if I pick up a tracking line they come to life, eyes glittering with excitement, hoping to be the chosen dog. It's because every step of their training is developed through the dog's desire to want to work with me.
From the human stand point, it is very difficult to stop ourselves from just doing everything for the dog. Plus, we humans are always in a hurry. We have a schedule to keep. Yet the dog gets into trouble for not knowing things, for pulling back, for being hesitant. So it's easier to just pick the dog up & put her in the truck. Yet, if I plan to teach the dog this skill & I put the time in, he will be jumping up into the truck with a simply command & this is a benefit that will serve us for a lifetime! We may have a schedule but we owe it to our dogs to invest time into their education. So I can be in a hurry & make the dog. Some don't mind being lifted but it does nothing to add to the dog's education except that you'll lift, jam, shut the door & he'll have to deal with it. Or I can do the alternative which is teaching the dog, letting the dog build his communication skills through this training & in the end you have another skill between you & the dog as a team.
Bringing this even more into the human's realm of thinking, how fond are you of someone who forces you to do things? How well do you like it if someone grabs you up & shoves you into the seat of a carnival ride that you don't even know what it does? Even if it turns out okay, how trusting are you of that person? Again all of us have a different response to this sort of person but I believe if you think this through you'll get a glimpse of how our dogs must feel when we shove them into something they neither understand or have trained for. It's not fun. For me personally, I don't trust people who would treat me this way. So it goes for our dogs.
When looking through the dog's eyes, it's far more exciting to see that human coming at you with the leash if you have confidence that you'll be safe, that you'll work together at everything vs. the human who makes you do things. The result is the same: dog on ground, dog up in truck. But the delivery method of what we humans want & need from the dog makes all the difference in the world.
Think about make vs. want the next time you pick up your leash & remember, you can get the results you want if you only put the time in with the dog. You get the same results except the dog wants to be with you. Once you tap into this the learning potential is only limited by your mind.