While training a dog, there is a natural ebb and flow of good experiences with successful events and not-so-good experiences with not-so-successful events.
The days when our dogs behave brilliantly we feel pretty good about ourselves and our dogs. The days that our dogs display less-than-stellar behaviour we feel disheartened and wonder if it is ever going to get better and how much longer the training will take. The key to successfully training your dog is to not engage in any high-risk training situations that result in having to discipline bad behaviour. Instead, create calculated risk training scenarios that encourage good behaviour.
High-risk training involves putting your dog in a situation that you have either not trained for, practised enough or experienced and expecting the dog to behave perfectly.
To better explain this, I will use my group training hike from last weekend as an example. My training hikes generally involve three or four dogs and their owners hiking through local trails and integrating previously learned obedience commands to deal with behavioural challenges.
On this particular day we were all working on off-leash walking, play and recall commands. For many weeks prior to this day we had been working on setting boundaries as to how far a dog is allowed to wander from its owner's side while walking. For the sake of training, I had allotted a 30-foot distance in front and not more than 10 feet on either side and behind. In this situation, with these dogs and their level of learned obedience combined with months of leadership skills, this was an appropriate distance for the owners to manage their dogs responsibly on a long training line.
Today, however, the training lines were off. This is what I consider a calculated risk. The rules of engagement were the same; the only difference was the lack of a long leash. The walk started off well. The dogs stayed within the learned boundaries and the owners were attentive and called them back, or at the very least praised them verbally when they stopping and looked back upon reaching the learned boundary. As with most things in life, there is always a rule breaker - and this rule breaker happened to have the dog with the worst social skills and learned recall.
When her dog approached the 30-foot boundary, instead of recalling him right away when he slowed his pace at the limit, she took the high-risk option and hoped he would return on his own without needing to be called back (he slowed his pace in anticipation of a recall that never came). When the command didn't come, he began to trot past the boundary very quickly. He then locked his attention on something further up the trail and took off at high speed. The owner began to panic and chased after him while yelling the recall command (which the dog ignored).
This situation resulted in fear and discipline. The owner chose a high-risk training approach and the dog failed. A better choice would have been a positive proactive approach with calculated risk, applying learned management techniques that have resulted in success in the past. Basically, she screwed up her training when she assumed her dog would exceed the expectations of the group. But we can't really fault her. This is what most people do. They assume their dog can handle an unforeseen jogger or cyclist approaching from behind a blind corner before any training around this scenario has happened. They assume their dog will come when called if it takes off after a squirrel on the trail before any training around this scenario has happened. They assume their dog will not steal the roast off the kitchen counter before any training around this scenario has happened. And when this impromptu high-risk training takes place, the dog is disciplined when it's the owner's fault for not setting realistic training goals and practising them in advance. By choosing proactive calculated risk scenarios, your training will be more successful and enjoyable for you and your dog.
Joan Klucha has been working with dogs for more than 15 years. Contact her through her website k9kinship.com.
