Dog Training
To Train or not to Train?
By Liz Mahony, Dog trainer, Pet Behaviourist & Holistic Therapist for all animals
When I first started dog training classes and agility for dogs of all ages and experiences, I imagined that the agility classes would generate the most popular response to my poster advertisement. Now a few months down the road, I’ve come to realise that this isn’t the case at all. In fact, I’ve found that most people want and need to know how to teach the basic commands. And that has been a huge surprise for me. Either that or they have some major issue that needs straightening out, such as socialisation. These last few months have been a revelation but also very heartening that so many people want to do the best for their dogs.
I’ve a saying which I use all the time: “What you put in is what you get out”
This could apply to most things in life but it is extremely relevant with regards to dogs and owners. If people practice just for a few minutes each day to teach their dogs new things or reinforce old commands, it shows in their relationship and the dogs’ behaviour. Each week in the classes, it’s very easy to see who has been putting in the work during the intervening days. Both dog and owner are more focused and on the same wavelength. And it’s very rewarding to see.
Over the course of the months, something else has come to light. There are a lot of dogs out there whom seem to be reactive to other dogs or people, so much so that they frighten their owners which exacerbates the situation. The owners end up either not exercising their dogs at all or finding a places that are deserted to avoid the problem. That’s all very well but it doesn’t get rid of the cause: lack of proper socialisation.
I’ve said before and I reiterate it here: I do believe there are a few dogs that have a real aggression problem. Mostly it is mixed messages from owners, fear and / or lack of knowledge of how to “meet and greet” other people and dogs in a proper manner. With a lot of patience from both their owners and the other people attending classes with dogs, those dogs with this problem are gradually being integrated into the classes.
What we seem to forget is that all dogs in the wrong hands can be turned into dangerous animals. But when we, the owners, take the initiative to teach our dogs what is appropriate behaviour and what is not, they generally respond in a positive manner. So it’s up to us to learn how to do it. That knowledge gives us the confidence to deal with any situation that arises via-á-vis and / or people.
So a good portion of the class deals with recognising the signals that our dogs give us and dealing positively with situations as they arise. Dogs actually tell us quite clearly what is going on when they meet other dogs but if we don’t respond to these signals, we fail them and they feel they have to deal with a situation themselves and that can mean an escalation of aggressive, fearful, dominant behaviour or a desire to opt out completely from meeting other animals because the dog finds it too stressful.
In the UK, when a person becomes a new owner of a rescue dog, part of the bargain is that they must attend training classes for a certain length of time. I do believe compulsory training classes (just like driving tests) for all new pet owners here would be a great idea. This might eliminate those people who get a dog on a whim and “dump” them equally on a whim. it would also help those who find a small difficulty with training has suddenly escalated into a full-blown, unmanageable problem in the space of a few days or weeks. After all don’t dogs deserve a decent start in life, just as we wish for ourselves?
Liz Mahony is a dog trainer and Pet Behaviourist who believes in holistic methods of training, a TTouch Practitioner (P1) for Companion animals, and a qualified therapist in Essential Oil therapy, a Reiki practitioner for all animals and an APDT member. Liz now holds regular Dog Training Classes for dogs of all ages an their owners.
Contact numbers:
086-3991599
For further information,
check out our dog training web site or www.animalsolutions.ie
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