ADVICE: The Common Sense Dog
I’m always humbled when I read success stories in the emails I receive. Thank you so much for sharing and asking questions. It’s a pleasure to be a part of your journey.
For anyone that hasn’t emailed or seen the answers to their questions in recent articles, feel free to email me at askdogtrainersteph@gmail.com.
As for today’s article, I am going to discuss rewards. There is a big misconception in dog ownership and even some dog training that the only valuable reward for dogs is a treat, but our dogs are not one-dimensional, and by using a one-dimensional approach, we often experience limited results.
No singular training reward can ever cover all of your training needs, especially if you are dealing with problem dogs. Let’s make a list together of all the things our dogs find rewarding. I know for my personal dogs, there are many things they enjoy: walks, car rides, affection, fetch, exploring, greeting new people, greeting new dogs (they had the opportunity to hang out with some pigs at our last event), the sprinkler, the lake, squeaky toys, wrestling, tug, snowballs, hiking, and the list can go on and on.
Notice I didn’t mention anything about food. That’s because food should only be one tool in our toolbox. Too often we give our dogs these other luxuries for free, and the dog, in turn, learns to expect them rather than work for them.
Rewards are a fantastic way of developing a good relationship with our dogs, but if we are allowing our dogs to be pushy with most of them and ONLY having them work for the treats, our relationship with them isn’t going to be the best it can be.
Try doing this instead. Sit down with your family and make a list of all the things your dog finds rewarding. Food may or may not be on this list. Once you’ve identified the things that motivate your dog, teach them to go through you to get them.
For instance, if your dog really loves to jump into the lake, teach them to sit and wait five minutes before releasing them to go play. Teach them that you are the gateway to the things they enjoy, and you’ll notice them paying more and more attention to you throughout the day.
If they like food, teach them to work for it. If they like the sprinkler, teach them to pay attention to you before running through it. If they like to play fetch, teach them to make eye contact before throwing the ball or toy.
They sound like simple things, but the more we teach our dogs to earn rewards, the more they appreciate what they’ve worked for and the more they appreciate the person supplying it.
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Stephanie Vichinsky is the owner/head trainer of United K9, LLC in Post Falls. 208-964-4806
unitedk9training.com