Ty the Dog Guy on the Daily

In today’s post, I want to talk about a very important subject in dog training: core behaviors. I’ve found over the years that there are three of these “core” behaviors. If a dog does these behaviors, and does them well, then we can manage or solve 95% of the things that bother the owners about that dog’s behavior. Those three behaviors are: coming when called, staying when told, and walking properly. We might achieve these behaviors through various commands, but those three concepts are absolutely critical. With mastery of them, your dog can manage almost anything. I want to dedicate my next few posts to these core behaviors, because nearly every dog I meet has a merely rudimentary understanding of these behaviors. Perhaps he will come, but not very well. Perhaps he will sit, but not stay. That’s not very useful. When the time comes to apply that obedience to aggression or manners, then the dog won’t behave in the presence of distraction. In this post, I want to discuss things you can do to get your core behaviors down better. If your dog comes when called reliably, a lot of problems go away. You can call your dog away from the door when someone rings the bell, prevent your dog from barking at the window, and get rid of aggression. This concept is huge! I like to teach two different types of recall: casual and formal. I use two simply because most people tell their dogs to “come” fifty times a day. We say it all the time. That’s fine, but anything we say that often is going to lose some of its meaning. We won’t be reinforcing it all the time, so because it’s used all the time it will become lax. I allow that with my casual recall. Teaching this recall is vey easy: I call the dog, then give him lots of rewards of food and praise. I do this over and over—simple. But here’s the problem: the casual recall probably won’t be good enough to overcome real problems. Your dog will probably really enjoy coming when called, but when the chips are down you can’t count on that behavior. When the dog has to choose between obeying commands for a treat or chasing the cat, then the dog will usually go after the cat. That situation calls for what I call a “formal recall.”

Your last dog is not your current dog. It might be a dog that you had to give away, or passed away from old age, or a great companion who died too early from cancer. But it isn’t your current dog. This is a big source of frustration for dog owners, and a big hurdle that prevents them from doing the best for their current dog. Owners will say things like: “I’ve had golden retrievers my whole life, and this is the first time I’ve ever had a problem with one.” How many golden retrievers did that owner have? Probably three or four. What they’re really saying is that they’ve had a few good representatives of the breed and can’t believe that one is showing them difficulty. I’ve heard this with countless breeds over the years, and it’s always a source of shock and frustration. That attitude becomes a hindrance when owners use it as a reason not to seek out more help, whether that’s hiring a trainer or going to a seminar or investing in a good program. When all you can think is “I’ve never had this problem before,” you hit a mental block. They assume that because they figured things out with their last dog, they’ll be able to handle this new dog on their own. But in reality, the average dog owner hasn’t had more than six or seven dogs—whereas the average dog trainer might see that many dogs in one day. Trainers see a huge variety of dogs, and have a much larger ability to understand a dog’s issues. Still, plenty of people fool themselves into thinking that they can solve their current dog’s problems simply because they’ve owned a lot of dogs in the past. Another problem that this mentality creates is that we love our dogs so much that they erase our memories. I mean that quite literally. This conversation occurs all the time: “Our last dog was so amazing! We’re doing the same things with this dog, and he’s just not getting it. Everything is the same, we’re raising him the same way, but our last dog was so much easier.” I often call on the spouse and ask them if this is true. The more logical of the two will say it’s not. Maybe the dog was indeed great, but also had another set of issues. By the time your last dog was four or five years old, they probably calmed down for another five to eight years. Your memories are of those great times, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But sometimes those memories cloud our recollection of what actually happened. Sometimes a husband will tell me that he doesn't think training is necessary, simply because “they figured things out with the last dog.” But when I talk to the wife, she’ll say that the dog just grew out of the problem. That husband is setting himself up to deal with those behavior issues for years and years, until the dog gets too tired to present them any longer. If you have more than one child, then your second child isn’t the same as your first. Likewise, your current dog isn’t the same as your last dog. Every dog has different needs, wants, desires, and challenges. It isn’t fair to keep applying the same strategies to your current dog that you did to your last dog. As Einstein said: “You can’t solve a problem with the same mindset that created the problem.” (That’s a paraphrase.) Many people are sorely lacking in mindset. They need a new tool bag this time around. So don’t keep living in the past, where the dogs were amazing and brought you breakfast in bed. Live in the here and now, where you’ve got an awesome dog who needs some help. What’s it going to take to help that dog through its behavioral challenges? Probably not the same thing that your last dog needed. Keep that in mind as you train.

In this post, I want to talk about stubborn dogs. Here’s the thing: even if you think you have a stubborn dog, I doubt it. You might, because they do exist. But I highly doubt that you have one. It’s common for me to be working with a client and hear something like, “Oh gosh, my dog is so stubborn!” This is a frequent claim that owners make about their dogs. Sometimes I’ll agree with them—but not often. When I call a dog “stubborn,” this is what I mean: the dog fully understands what you’re asking, and then chooses not to listen or pay attention. Makes sense, right? It’s not a crazy concept. But the reality is that very few dogs actually know what’s being asked of them, and so many owners think their dog knows exactly what’s being asked of them! So when owners complain that their dog knows what they’re asking but doesn’t do it, they almost always mean that their dog is clueless! The dog hasn’t been taught very well. Maybe the dog understands what “come” means in certain situations, but once they change the setting or add a distraction he is confused. Now they aren’t coming when called. The dog isn’t stubborn, he just hasn’t been taught how to deal with distractions or to obey from a distance. A dog who is truly stubborn understands the command, yet doesn't obey it. The reason this is so rare is that if a dog does understand what’s expected and desire, they usually want to do it. Most dogs enjoy work and are totally willing to please. They enjoy the camaraderie that comes from working together with their owners. Of course, some dogs are little knuckleheads that know what you want but won’t do it. I see this situation go awry often. Frequently, owners say that their dogs know what they want because of a facial expression. They might say to the dog, “Hey, come here!” When the dog doesn’t, they go after it. If the dog appears to be sorry, then they say, “See, he knows what I was talking about.” That’s not true. The dog simply understands that its owner is upset. He’s trying to say “Sorry, I would have come if you had told me that’s what you wanted—but you didn’t.” Other owners might say “He heels it a lot, just not off-leash” or “He can sit, but he doesn’t when guests come over.” They think that’s because their dog is stubborn. In reality, it only seems like the dog was taught to come or stay. The second you add those other elements that you didn’t spend any time teaching about, the dog doesn’t understand. It’s not because he’s stubborn. Stubbornness is active; not understanding is passive. If your dog is being disobedient, it’s probably because of the latter. Will you come across stubborn dogs occasionally? Yes. But out of the dozens of dogs that I’m currently working with, only two or three of them are actively stubborn. If you frequently find yourself calling your dog “stubborn,” slap yourself on the wrist and recognize that there’s probably something you’re not teaching. Only then can you start teaching your dog better!

Spite is one of the most human emotions. When something happens that we don’t like, we often like to punish other people because of this feeling. Here’s an example: if someone does something their spouse hates, their spouse might withhold attention or even intentionally do something they know the person hates out of spite. Our species does this all the time!

My daughter is ten and a half—and she needs braces. As we’ve gone to the dentist over the years, it’s starting to look like all of our other kids will need them too. When I think back to having braces, I remember how awful they were and how much I hated those years. My lips got cut, and I couldn't brush or floss. It was ugly, painful, and just no fun at all. And since I didn’t wear my retainer very well, I actually had to get braces twice! To this day, my bottom teeth are still kind of crooked. Now, my daughter is going in tomorrow to get braces and we were talking about it last night. She was acting kind of bummed about it because she thought she was supposed to be—but at the same time, she was smiling. “Oh man, I’ve got to go in and get braces on Thursday!” she said. I was up front with her: I told her that braces hurt my teeth and mouth, but that technology had advanced in the past twenty and she’d be in better shape than I was. She knows that this isn’t going to be a pleasant thing, but she was still acting excited. “You’re kind of acting excited,” I said. “No, I’m not!” she replied. But she was. That’s when I realized that braces meant something else to her. She has a few friends who are eleven and twelve years old, and they’ve had braces. She sees kids at church who are a little bit older and have braces. Her cousins have braces. To her, braces aren’t necessarily tools for fixing teeth: they’re a sign of being older. First you get braces, then you get to babysit, then you get your driver’s license, then you date—and so on. She’s our oldest, and she’s always wanted to feel older and fit in with older kids. For her, getting braces is almost a positive. I’m guessing that once the braces are on, it’ll be a mixed bag. She will probably still feel that sense of maturity that she’s invested in this process, in addition to hating the pain and discomfort. But right now, she’s honestly looking forward to going to thee orthodontist and getting these braces slapped on her teeth. A lot of people think that correcting a dog is as simple as telling him “no” in a stern voice. That’s meaningful for some dogs, but not all. Some people think that you can praise any dog just by giving him a treat. That’s not necessarily true. Oftentimes, the standard value that we associate with food or correction is very different for different dogs. It’s important that we as trainers and owners find out what actually makes a motivating correction or reward. This will be different for every dog. But if you can uncover it, you’ll be much closer to your goal of the best-trained dog you can possibly have!