Recently Gareth and I did some filming for a future course. Gus and Tippi did their own thing while we set up. We noticed that the arena had some beautiful concentric circles from Gus charging round like a loon – then we saw he was walking on only three legs. The stupid nutcase had hurt his dodgy hip again. He was very sorry for himself but cheered up a bit later on after a good dose of Metacam – and this morning it’s much better.
Unfortunately, dogs don’t really do cause and effect very well and next time he wants to do the zoomies round the arena – not anytime soon – he probably won’t remember what happened this week. And I’ll need to get the Metacam out again.
Gus won’t have learnt from this craziness because it happens so infrequently. But our dogs are learning all the time from things that happen regularly. A person goes past the window and your dog, watching that interesting widescreen TV you give him access to, goes crazy barking. Some time ago that behaviour probably started with a small woof but very quickly, practice turned it into a regular deafening cacophony.
Training is all about teaching dogs about associations. If you come when I call you get a super tug game, if you walk nicely by my side, yummy treats appear every so often. If you sit or lie down when I ask you get lovely praise and a cuddle, if you go to bed when told a wonderful chew or stuffed kong appears.
It’s no good practising your recall once a week at class then letting your dog off lead every day in the dog park or on the beach and allowing him to run up to other dogs and ignore your plaintive pleas to “come”. Practice makes your dog good at whatever he’s allowed to do most.
Setting associations up is all about practice and repetition. That’s why you get homework on all our courses. We give you tiny training tips that you can practice whenever you’ve got a spare five minutes – while the kettle boils, while tea is cooking or between TV programmes. Doing some practice little and often is the best way to train and set in stone the associations you want, so your dog does what you ask, every time.
You’ll need to do your homework, too, though. Practice Produces Progress.
Keep training and keep safe,
Carol