Some days, my brain buzzes with larger, more philosophical sides to dog training. In part, this happens because of items I see in dog world news such as this dog training summit. At some point soon, I may rant a bit on that very topic since I’m not shy about the fact that I’m no fan of “He Who Shall Not Be Named.” But, today, I wanted to share a distinction I think will help.
Answer me this: When your dog responds to cues or offers default behaviors or just generally behaves like a civilized canine citizen, do you feel a sense of power or pride?
For me, it’s clearly pride. I suppose that could be a vice too, but I really do enjoy seeing Lilly enjoy doing things I ask.
Remember how terrible I felt after our first consultation with our behaviorist? Remember how she essentially said that I had far more power over Lilly than I realized?
And, that’s the only reason Lilly was ever able to work despite her fears of the world at large (not of me).
Well, that was TOUGH to hear. It humbled me.
I think I’ve always been deep-down excited when Lilly and I connect through training, but this behavior modification process we’ve been going through for literally years now taught me that how Lilly feels about everything we do is just as important as the doing itself.
So, when people marvel at Lilly’s abilities in public, I hope they see the teamwork and relationship behind it all … not some display of control. I hope they see the focus and joy in her eyes, and maybe the pride in mine.
She has come so far for a puppy girl with so many issues.
I think that pride is what I feel, pride in my dog’s good behavior. I think that positive training fosters that feeling – because it doesn’t use intimidation as part of the process. It’s really a collaboration between us and our dogs, figuring out how to communicate with each other – IMO, that’s the essence of training.
I had a worker at the house the other day, who told me that I needed be more like “you know who”. As an aside, my dogs were behaving really well. K was loose and being polite, with me giving her an occasional piece of kibble for her polite behavior. R was obsessed with his MannersMinder so that the worker could do his 5 min job and leave.
The worker informed me that if I just had more “power” over my dogs (like his hero, “you know who”) I wouldn’t need treats. I asked him what kind of dog he had – here’s the funniest part – he doesn’t have one!!! I sure hope that he never gets one.
This is a great post, Roxanne. Thanks.
What a special bond there is between a dog and its owner(s)! It’s unspoken, but so very strong and evident, isn’t it?