Creatures of their Environment
Dogs are creatures of their environment.
Let’s take the standard highly aroused, no manners dog who is friendly as can be, but doesn’t listen and “rules the house”.
Chances are, this dog would do great with some proper training, structure and leadership. We work with these dogs all the time.
The thing is- these dogs behave this way because they’re allowed to. It’s as simple as that.
Dogs are selfish by nature, and they will do things that are self rewarding. Jumping on people, chewing furniture, barking at stuff outside it’s fun and games. And all easy to stop or change.
The issue often lies within the dog/human relationship. The owners might feel “bad” for disciplining/correcting their dogs, or have been told every lie in the book about how wrong it is to do so. So instead they all struggle for possibly the lifetime of the dog.
Humans are also creatures of habits, and if our own habits are encouraging bad behaviors, then it becomes a vicious cycle. (This is the reinforcement of the unwanted behavior)
The dog misbehaves, the owner feels bad, the owner gives MORE freedom, more exercise, more fun, more love because that’s what they’re told to do. Instead of just enforcing rules and correcting all the nonsense, the dog just does it more.
The cycle of self rewarding behavior continues until a breaking point is typically reached.
Then the owners might seek help, and the right trainer can get results that seem like “magic” when all we do is use an approach that makes sense to the dog.
We are fair, clear and consistent with our messaging. We don’t allow bad behaviors, we stop them. We reward what we want. OUR attitude and relationship with the dog is built on mutual respect, not one sided as many dog/owner relationships are.
We get the results we do because we, the humans, know that our behavior contributes to the dog’s long-term success.
We educate our clients on these concepts and then eventually, they’re successful too
The changes in your dog always always always begin with YOU.