What Dog Training Success Takes

I wish I could magically give people my skills.

Unfortunately, I can handle most dogs with a great deal of success these days - and pretty soon, I've got the dog doing everything the owner wants them to - heeling, recall, not reacting to the various distractions around them.

When the dog goes back to the owner after I've handled them, they return right back to the way they acted before I ever put hands on them.

I wish there was a way to change that, but unfortunately the way that the dynamic works is that:

Input A = Output A

(the handler works the dog while letting them reinforce themselves for bad behavior, the dog exhibits bad behavior)

And

Input B = Output B

(the handlers works the dog while NOT letting them reinforce themselves for bad behavior, and the dog stops exhibiting bad behavior)

Unfortunately, the dynamic cannot be

Input A = Output B

(The handlers works the dog while letting them reinforce themselves for bad behavior, the dog stops exhibiting bad behavior)

It takes a few things to close up those self reinforcing opportunities - consistently practicing with the dog in a correct fashion, paying exclusive attention to the dog and not splitting your attention while handling, containing the dog appropriately so they cannot commit mistakes while your attention is split, and working within the dog's tolerances so that your handling doesn't degrade because you're overwhelmed.

What this means is that it takes practice. The practice is unavoidable. To be successful, you have to practice over and over and over until you can execute the techniques correctly and the dog responds to your correctly executed techniques.

It unfortunately also takes being absolutely adamant about the dog not doing the unwanted behaviors and taking the time to train so they stop entirely if they attempt them. If you want the dog to stop pulling on leash, you can never let them pull on leash again successfully. Even occasional use of those stratagems keeps them in the dog's repertoire of behaviors. This is highly annoying in a fast paced, hurry-centric world, but it's nonetheless absolutely necessary.

The answer is that unfortunately, we have to take the long way around.

When you're ready to put the work in, we're here to help you get through it.