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Do you thank your dog?
I was visiting a training class and walked up to a beautiful
Chow puppy about six or eight months of age. The puppy began
licking my hand. The owner jerked his leash (which was attached
to a prong collar). The dog bit me and backed off. The dog
approached again. The owner jerked again. The dog bit again.
I told the owner that the dog was biting me when she (the owner) jerked
the leash. She said that she had to jerk the leash to keep
the dog from jumping on me.
Next, I watched this owner train her dog. When
nothing was going on, she would just stand there and jerk on
the leash. Also she was jerking on the leash and then giving
a command. In addition, this woman was definitely afraid of her dog.
Next hour/next class a second Chow puppy appeared. These owners
had not been regular in attendance. They also were doing the
"random jerk" thing and the "jerk then command" thing. The
husband had an attitude which was not helping things either.
"Jerk then command" merely teaches your dog that when Mom and Dad jerk his
collar, they are going to jaw at him again.
At another training class I watched the trainer wrestle with a dog
for what seemed like five or ten minutes. After he finally got the dog
"down," he immediately let the dog up (he couldn't hold it any longer) and
turned to the owner, "You see, you just have to keep at it." He
never praised the dog, he never said, "That's what I wanted all
along," he never said, "Thank you," or indicated to the dog
in any way that the dog had successfully done a "down." That dog
still doesn't know what was going on!
Whenever you give your dog a command, you must give him a chance to obey
before you punish him with a collar correction. You should say, "No," first and
only then give the correction.
If your dog obeys your command, you must remember to praise him immediately.
"Good dog! Good sit! Thank you for the good sit!"
Precise timing of praise and correction are the hallmarks of a successful dog trainer.
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