Your dog is learning ALL the time, even when you aren't deliberately training.
They're learning FROM you and ABOUT you. They're learning FROM the environment and ABOUT the environment. The emotional experience is all wrapped up in this.
What's confusing? What's scary? What's frustrating? What's exciting? What's unpredictable? What's fun? What's boring? Who's fun to be around? Who can be trusted? Does this feel safe? Unsafe?
In my last post, I mentioned training errors we make. Let's run through them.
1. Our agenda is unclear. (We think we know what we're training and really don't.)
Be really clear about what you DO want and what you DON'T want. This is much easier said than done.
Effective training involves lots of opportunities to be right, while minimising opportunities to be wrong. A few wrongs can be helpful to tell our learner - "Not that, that won't work" - but only if it won't work.
For example:
Jumping on visitors. If you're trying to avoid your pup jumping on visitors, but occasionally they manage to do it and get lots of attention when they do so - it probably worked for them. (They're probably going to keep trying and you're probably going to get frustrated!)
Toilet training - if the pup pees inside and now feels relief from an empty bladder - it probably worked for them. (They're probably going to keep trying and you're probably going to get frustrated!)
Grabbing clothing from the laundry basket and running away - if the pup gets chased and then you play tug with the clothing - it probably worked for them.
(They're probably going to keep trying and you're probably going to get frustrated!)
These are all really common things you DON'T want the pup to do.
I find that owners often have a long list of DON'Ts, especially for life skills.
The down side of focusing on the DON'T, is that the pup/ dog then has to guess what to DO. They are likely to continue to guess wrong and run into another DON'T. This is frustrating for both of you.
Focusing on what we want to avoid (the DON'Ts) is a natural human survival approach. Our brains are wired that way. When we're reared by, taught by and managed by people with the same wiring, we're just going to keep doing it.
Changing our wiring is hard, but possible and very worthwhile. Train what you DO want, while minimising your pup's opportunities to practise what you DON'T want.
Clarify your agenda. What do you want them to DO?
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