Gus froze as still as a statue. He’d just seen a bird fly up out of a nearby hedge. I could see the thoughts rushing through his head – shall I chase the bird? shall I look at mum? what’s best for me at this moment?
This time he chose me – so he got his ball thrown for him as a reward, fulfilling his desire to chase.
Dogs are making choices all the time.
Shall I jump on the sofa to have a snooze?
Shall I go to the front window to see if the postman’s coming?
Shall I follow dad to see what he’s doing?
Shall I go and rummage in that bin?
Shall I steal that sock?
Shall I pull to try to get to that enticing smell on the lamppost?
Shall I go and say hello to that nice looking bitch over there?
Shall I put my chin on mum’s knee and gaze into her eyes while she’s eating that biscuit?
Choices, choices, choices.
Dogs choose to do things they find rewarding.
And just because of the natural way of things, half those choices are likely to be “good” and half “bad”. I’ve used inverted commas because this interpretation is yours – all the choices your dog makes are good in his eyes, or he wouldn’t make them.
We talked a lot about choice at the WOOF conference last weekend. Choice is the basis for nearly all the dog training we do nowadays. Gone, thank goodness, are the days when we yanked dogs about and physically forced them to do things.
Why is choice so important? Because it gives your dog a feeling of being in control. If he feels he has control over what you do with him, he’ll be far more willing to engage with you. If your dog actively chooses to engage with you, training is far, far easier.
That’s one of the reasons why we focus on building the bond and deepening the relationship between you and your dog in our Perfect Pet classes.
We teach you how to give your dog choices and how to reward the ones you want, which leads to the dog choosing those things more often, which is training in a nutshell.
But it’s not about totally free choices. Training is easiest where you control the environment such that your dog only has two realistic choices – because then he’s far more likely to choose the things you want and give you the opportunity to reward them.
For example, if your dog pulls on the lead, stop as soon as (preferably before) he does. That gives your dog only two choices – to stay at the end of the lead, or to turn back towards you and loosen the tension. If he chooses the second (and most dogs do), he’s made the right choice, giving you the chance to praise him and encourage him back to your side.
All the loose lead walking games we play in our classes teach you to reward the good choices your dog makes, from standing by your side and looking at you to staying by your side when you move.
The recall games teach him that coming to you is a great thing to do, so he’s far more likely to make that choices again in future.
And the handling games teach him to be comfortable about all the husbandry procedures that need to be done.
The games build gradually in difficulty through the course, which helps you and your dog succeed at each stage.
Choice in training is important. Come along to our Perfect Pet classes and find out more.
Keep training,
Carol