When asked recently what I found most inspiring and surprising about learning to train dogs, I replied "the people!" The more I learn about dogs, the more I realize it is us, the owners, who need the training!
I've just started working with four dogs, all different breeds, with all different issues. (Above is Eva, a little Staffordshire Terrier who suffers from fear aggression and noise sensitivity) One thing that I have learnt from teaching is that there are many ways to treat issues and not all of them work for all dog handler teams. As I sit down with the perspective clients for the first time and ask them to tell me what their concerns and goals are in regard to their pets, I discover a lot and not just about the dogs. I learn what different expectations people have of their dog trainer, as well as their expectations of their pets. They provide me with a guideline of what they expect to get out of it and how much time, money and effort they are willing to invest. From this I can put together a plan for us to follow and a proposition for the training. During this consultation, I also get an insight into how the person communicates, which indicates the way they need to be taught. I can only teach the dog as much as I can teach the owner. Really the client is the student, not the dog.
Dog training is a service and must be customized to the client. Not all owners will be willing to put in the necessary hours required to fully obedience train a dog. It's hard work and requires time that many busy modern families and individuals don't have. They will however be able to make small changes to improve the communication between them and their pet, as well as teach their dog a few basics so that it can function within our society and enjoy a better quality of life. Many people just want a pet who is well behaved and good company. They don't realize that dogs are a lot of work and most need a lot of exercise and attention. This is common when clients acquire dogs that they like the look of and may know little about. What I have learned about pet dog training is that a client may actually want you to train the drive out of their dog. Drive is something that many purebred dogs, (as well as mutts) have in high levels and is considered a good thing by breeders. However, the very thing that makes a Labrador an excellent hunting dog, may cause it to chase things inappropriately and to possibly torment the family cat. The instinctive herding nature of a boarder collie, will drive some owners crazy with barking. The point is, that working dogs, or sporting dogs have high levels of prey, defence and pack drive that, if left unshaped, don't always transfer well into the pet dog category. So when training a pet dog, one must adjust the plan of action to the situation.
For a instance, the approach to teaching, lets say, a labra-doodle to be a good family pet, would not be the same as if we were teaching it to be an competitive agility dog. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of people who want to take their dog to a higher level of obedience, or have aspirations of competing, even just for fun in sporting and utility events. For this type of client, you can expect that they will be thinking more long term and want to layer the training you can offer them, even using multiple trainers to get a diverse education. However, most people who come to pet dog trainers are not looking to compete with their family dog. They may end up pursuing that at some point as a hobby, but that is not what they are coming to the pet dog trainer for. I am quickly discovering that the competitive show dog and sporting dog world is an entirely different one. Although many competitive dogs make great family pets, the training is very specific and not suited to the average dog owner. Nonetheless, all dog training shares some of the basics of obedience work and all dogs benefit from basic obedience training.
Like many people I stumbled into dog training because I started training my own dogs and got hooked. The more I learn about our canine companions the more I want to learn. They are such an amazing addition to our lives and such a compliment to our being. The more I learn about dog training, the more I realize I have so much more to learn. There are as many methods out there as there are trainers. Everyone has different advice; however, not all methods are appropriate to all dogs or all types of owners. The important thing I have learnt from Holly and Miko, is if it isn't working, try something else. When you figure out the thing that does work, then you can go back and try the other method again (if you really think there is something to be gained by it). For example, treat training works on Miko, but affection wasn't the best way to get this shy dogs attention. In the beginning, it was a case of the reinforcement (petting) being perceived as and adversary. Nine months later, he will do things just for love and enjoys a good bum rub! More surprisingly, with my dog aggressive Holly, now that I have her reactivity under control, using strictly pack order and traditional obedience training, I'm bridging back to clicker exercises and operant conditioning and it is working!
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