I wrote the following guidelines for an course assignment I completed a few years ago and they do still fundamentally reflect the basics I try to teach my dogs with – just thought I’d share where I was coming from
õ Decide what you will allow your dog to do and what you don’t want him/her to do.
- If your dog never learns to do something it will probably not do it.
õ Reward for appropriate behaviour.
- The behaviour is likely to be repeated.
õ Ignore or redirect inappropriate behaviour to something appropriate
- Not giving inappropriate behaviour attention will reduce its likelihood of repetition; redirecting it to something appropriate means the new behaviour receives reward.
õ Be consistent with your behaviour, i.e. do not feed from the table if you don’t want your dog to beg at the table. Dogs are great at reacting to action.
- It’s hard to be good if you are confused. Good clear communication is easy to understand.
õ Use a routine but vary it on occasion – dogs love routines but if you are stick to the routine too much the dog will not learn how to cope if the routine changes, which in life it inevitably does i.e. vary feeding, departure, arrival times.
- Learning that change is normal will mean easier acceptance and less anxiety.
õ Use the dog’s natural energies in training i.e. when the dog is running around get them to come back to you, reward and release – this helps create a fast fun recall; or calmly stroke and soothe the dog when he/she is tired and relaxing using a word that the dog learns to associate with feeling calm.
- Dogs have great behaviours that can be used to advantage.
õ If you have asked the dog to do something then help it to happen; generally if the dog doesn’t do what you have asked it is because he/she has not been trained to or there is no motivation.
- Dogs will always test the boundaries, changing them to suit their own rewards.
õ Try not to respond to barking or whining, wait until the behaviour stops and then ask the dog to do something he/she can do (like sit) and then reward; alternatively set the dog up in the situation that causes barking or whining and reward before the barking or whining starts, building up the time between rewards until you get a good length of time without the barking or whining.
- Dogs are experts at getting attention and reinforcement will make the behaviour stronger, this behaviour is one that can be cute at first but very annoying when constant.
õ Teach, expect and help good manners to happen when taking your dog in public.
- Respecting the needs of those around us will give more opportunities in the future; it is not respectful or caring to impose your will on someone else.
õ Call your dog and reward, all the time right throughout his/her life – the more you do when the dog is young the better the response will always be.
- Letting the dog enjoy his/her name will always elicit a great response, if a behaviour is not rewarded it will cease.
õ Be respectful that the dog is still a dog, a living being that you have chosen to bring into your home and live with – you need to teach the dog what is appropriate in living with you.
- Dogs do not understand the way we live unless we teach them; dogs are not human.
õ Teach good food manners so that the dog trusts you and everyone when food is about whether it is his/her food or yours.
- Survival is instinctive; teaching the dog to trust with food ensures safety.
õ Teach good handling so that the dog completely trusts human hands.
- A trusting dog will fit into society more easily and not become stressed.
õ Stimulate your dog with appropriate physical and mental exercise.
- Keeps the dog healthy in both body and mind, leading to less stress or inappropriate behaviour.
õ Be a good leader to your dog.
- Dogs love to follow but will make their own way in life if no one else leads the way.
õ Above all enjoy your dog.
- Dogs are fun and great companions, enjoy their company and they will enjoy yours too.
