Where And How Does Dog Training Fail?

There is a lot of hype on the internet about dog training that claims to be THE SECRET WAY. You know the ones Train Your Dog in One Day or Secrets No One Told You About Training Your Husky.

Honestly, those statements are selling you a Get Rich Quick scheme. If it was that easy to train a dog, there would not be 15 million results in Google when you typed in dog training.

Training a dog takes time, but in our fast paced world we don't have time. We want to believe that dog training doesn't take any effort.

Sure, you can teach your dog to sit in one day, but then what?

What happens down the road?

This is where that kind of dog training fails. How does it fail? It doesn't consider what happens three months from that day, or five years from that day.

You go home from the training lessons walking on air because you and your dog just learned how to sit and then two years later you are struggling with your dog pulling on a leash.

You think to yourself this was the best dog at 5 months of age what happened?

It's what didn't happen that's the problem. You weren't told that dog training would be an everyday thing.

I still leash train my dog Kyra...and she's 11 years old! Dog training is just like any sport, you have to practice the basics over and over. Surfing, yoga, baseball, tennis, and martial arts all have basic skills that need to be practiced consistently. The better you get at the basics, the more you can expand your skills. When things go wrong, you step back, practice something you know you can do well and move on again. This process doesn't change when you train dogs.

Take our dog Larry for instance, he used to have a fear of just about anything humans did. He gets less fearful over the years, but just when we think he has gotten over his fear, we make a sudden move and he panics and drops to the pavement. Ahh, two steps forward and one back.

If you are frustrated with your dog, you are just a normal dog owner. No one prepared you for the lifelong journey of dog training.

Remember this statement perfect practice makes perfect.

If your dog continually runs away from you when you yell GET OVER HERE! You have been training your dog perfectly - to stay away from your yelling voice. Yep, I hate to say it, but when we humans repeatedly make the same mistake we just reinforce the behavior we don't want.

It is possible that your dog is not the kind of dog that can be off leash. I know, I know. We all pictured having one of those great Hollywood dogs like Lassie when we fell in love with our first dog. But just because your dog isn't Lassie, doesn't mean they can't be perfect for you.

On the other hand, one of the great things about having your dog get into trouble is being able to share that trouble with other dog people! That is what owning a dog is really about.

Before you write your dog off as stubborn or untrainable, consider for a moment what you are expecting of your dog. To quote my husband's favorite line You are only as good as your weakest link.

Before you make your dog wrong, take one of those painful looks in the mirror.

Contrary to popular belief, bad behavior problems did not happen overnight. They were not created overnight and they won't be stopped overnight. Just like any relationship, you have to work at dog training. You also have to adjust the rules as your relationship grows.

Ever argue with your spouse? Lover? Best Friend? It doesn't mean you quit everything or move out, it just means there is a problem that needs solving.

Same holds true for the dog. If you always yell at your dog to GET OVER HERE! and he runs the opposite direction, you need to find another way to get the behavior you want.

Whatever you are doing in the first place to get the behavior (yelling, stomping your foot, talking on your cell phone) you need to stop doing.

Instead, ride the horse the way its going so to speak. If your dog won't get over here then don't put your dog in a position where they will have to get over here.

The solution is simple, it's retraining our human habits that's difficult.

Dog training is not simple.

Its do-able and possible, but not simple.