THE GOALS OF TRAINING
The
Cooperative Canine -
What are "good dog manners"?
Willing, eager, compliant, smart, mannerly.
Listens and follows directions.
A dog who is easy to live with and fun to take everywhere with you.
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THE GOALS OF TRAINING The
Cooperative Canine -
Willing, eager, compliant, smart, mannerly. Listens and follows directions. A dog who is easy to live with and fun to take everywhere with you. |
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People expect their dogs to act more like humans than canines. The behavior we want from them often goes against their nature. They must learn to accept restraint, allow handling and grooming, crate quietly, eliminate in the correct places, stay alone for hours on end and chew only on acceptable objects and respond reliably to cues. They need to learn to allow people to safely take things away from them, including food and toys. If you give a dog a rawhide and he chews it down to the point that you fear he may choke on it, you'll need to be able to take it away from him. Dogs must learn to accept limits and have impulse control. Food and items within reach do not automatically belong to them.
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They must be still when they'd rather wiggle, come away from things they'd rather keep investigating, wait when they'd rather go, walk gently on a loose leash instead of plowing ahead with all their might, and sit for petting when they'd rather get up close and personal. They must keep their opinions to themselves when they'd rather pick a fight. They must wait for permission and say please. They must be patient. This is the essence of a well-trained dog. |
We
often expect our dogs to abandon their doggy view of reality, in favor of our
own.
When
people act like dogs, dogs must remember we are humans and not treat us like
dogs. They must not give in to the impulse to chase and leap when children squeal
and run. They must inhibit the force of their bite when playing and
remember that people don't like slobber.
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When people break all laws of doggy etiquette, dogs must make allowances for their lack of social graces and learn that threatening body language isn't always meant to be so. We expect them to tolerate the clumsy and invasive treatment of our children. Some
of our expectations are not so reasonable from the dog's point of view.
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We don't appreciate their bravery when they kill the evil snakes that are attached to the sprinklers in our yards. We yell "shush" when they announce intruders on the sidewalks bordering our territory but still expect them to defend us and our homes. At the same time they should know not to bite the person who comes every day to rattle the mailbox on our house or read our meters but chase off only those who sneak into our garage and touch our stuff.
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We expect a LOT from our dogs! A
satisfied dog is one who has a job and feels useful and appreciated. Unfortunately, many people expect dogs to be model citizens with little or no education, supervision or guidance. People come to class believing dogs should "know better" and even attribute lapses in the above to "blowing them off" or "getting back at the owner." Everyone wants Lassie without realizing how many hours and hours of ongoing, continuous training that Rudd Weatherwax put into making that dog look so perfect on screen (or the number of re-takes it took to GET each shot!) It was his full-time job! |
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Shiner
does the dishes! |
The
saddest thing of all, is
that there are still books in print and advice modeled and passed down from
grandma to mom to child that advocate "catching them in the act" and "showing
them who's boss." People "rub their noses in it" throw things
at them, thrash them with rolled newspapers and euthanize them when they
don't live up to their expectations. It's unfair and unreasonable. At Diamonds in the Ruff, we will show you how to accomplish a well mannered canine using kind, fair methods. Your dog will learn to trust and respect you as a benevolent leader, not a harsh wielder of dominance. |
