Image source: Flickr
Proof that you’re not alone in the simultaneously funny and not-always-funny world of dogs is found on the rather popular website Dog Shaming and other sources inspired by the site. While the posts are usually quite funny, the underlying stories found there and across the general “dog shaming” meme most always points to a problem caused by the owners, due to poor management.
Even when you don’t have treats and you aren’t engaging with your dog, you’re training them. How you manage life from the moment you bring your dog home can be the difference between a fun and easy dog to live with and train or a long-term problem.
Management simply refers to the things you do that shape your dog’s behavior and personality – even without training. Simply by existing with the dog, you are influencing what they do and what kind of dog they will be. The beauty and the terror of management is that your unintentional and intentional actions influence all of it. If you’re already in the habit of keeping the door to your fence firmly closed, you’re a step ahead of many people who regularly deal with dogs that run away. Likewise, if you’re the kind of person who regularly loses their temper and yells or slams things, don’t be surprised when you have a lot of extra work to do when you’re trying to train a good recall. Without knowing it, you’ve already given your dog enough reason to doubt your sanity and trustworthiness, even if your anger wasn’t directed toward them. Again, directed at your dog or not directed at your dog, everything you do matters.
As dog trainers, we often solve problems that are 100% fixable or preventable that require more human training than anything.
Problem: I can’t get my puppy/dog to stop__________.
Solution: Don’t let your puppy/dog get into situations that encourage __________.
Reason: Every time they do something that they enjoy (whether you want them to enjoy it or not) that behavior is reinforced in their mind as something that is fun and not unacceptable. It is unfair to punish a puppy (remember, they are actually exploring their world, not purposely creating mischief) or to punish a dog that actually just doesn’t know better (this is very true of newly adopted older dogs). It’s up to you to protect your puppy/dog from themselves by setting them up for success. This is management.
- Keeping the door to your closet shut instantly works to train dogs from eating shoes (so long as the rest of the house is also shoe-free). If your dog is tall enough to drink from the toilet, this same trick works just as well at keeping the dog from drinking from the porcelain throne.
- Picking up excrement is an amazing trick for ensuring you don’t raise a chronic poop eater (breeders should especially take note of this since the habit often forms very early).
- Perhaps most importantly, making sure children don’t chase and taunt your dog works wonders at “getting the dog to like children.”
We understand that these points may seem ridiculous to even mention. We also understand that sometimes the simplest solutions are right beneath our noses and we just need to take a step back to see that the change that needs to happen is actually on the human side of the relationship. Dog training can be very humbling, to say the least. All of us, even the best trainers in the world, are humbled on a regular basis. Enjoy the ride. And remember, not every good or problem behavior needs to be trained in or out of the dog. Small changes on your part often pull the most weight with the least amount of effort.