Last summer, Jazzy Molly must have been about 6 months old, we were out in the fields practicing some “come when I call you” excersize. I spotted a young lad watching us. Jazzy Molly’s recall was fine, not perfect, but fine and improving.
Jazzy Molly is having a good time on a bale of straw
After a while, the lad approached us and asked if I would let him try to recall Jazzy Molly. I didn’t think it was a good idea to let him work with Jazzy Molly even for a short while, but I was intrigued why he wanted to do that. So, I told him I would grant his request but first, he should tell me why he wanted to practice with Jazzy Molly and not with that cutie at his dad’s side. Because I saw that dad was standing a bit further away from us with a cute terrier mix on the leash. His answer put a smile on my face. He said: “I just want to know what it feels like when your dog listens to you.” Eventually, he did some recalls with Jazzy Molly. And there it was, the unmistakeable sparkle in the young lad’s eyes that all dog owners should experience. “Thank you so much, this is fantastic.” he said. His dad joined us, and finally, we let the dogs have some fun. My Vinnie was eyeing that cute terrier mix in anticipation of play time, anyway. Whilst the dogs were playing they told me that they had been practicing recall all the time with no improvement. As a matter of fact, they were quite disappointed just about everything they tried to teach that cutie of a terrier mix. At the time, I was in the process of working out the structure of my puppy training program, but it wasn’t ready just yet, so I didn’t mention it. I only asked them if they would consider attending a dog training course. To my surprise, they had already been participating in one of these programs for months. They were rather satisfied with the establishment, they liked the trainers, too. Their only complaint was the lack of improvement. After a short chat we went separate ways.
Later on, I was thinking about what the young lad said, and I was wondering why my first reaction was a smile. The more I thought about it the stronger I felt that the young lad, in fact all of us dog owners, should be able to experience the magic feeling of our dogs’ improving responsiveness. Although my smile was compassionate, we should take such struggle a bit more seriously.
Jazzy Molly and Vincent the Wizard are practicing “focus on Mom whatever happens” during a walk in the woods.
Also, their complaint about the lack of improvement in all areas stuck with me. Obviously, I never saw them train their dog. I couldn’t pinpoint the issue on hand even if I wanted to. Yet, there was a telltale sign: they were disappointed just about everything they tried to teach the dog. In general, if we lack improvement in all areas, we have to stop, think, and choose only one area to focus on applying the right method and technique. One thing at a time is maybe one of the most important aspects of dog training. Letting the dog practice the “wrong” behaviour never leads to improvement. In fact, it leads to deterioration in other areas for more than one reasons. First, if the puppy doesn’t perform the behaviour labelled “right” or “good”, there is no reason to praise the puppy. The owner gets stressed, becomes impatient. The puppy often gets punished (even if it is a mild form of punishment) which doesn’t help to improve the puppy-owner relationship. Second, any form of punishment reduces motivation. Third, too many repetitions in the hope of improvement, especially when the owner is already stressed out, will only result in monotony which is probably the number one enemy of puppy training. Fourth, monotony and punishment can lead to mistrust, so the puppy will eventually withdraw and stop training. In worst case scenario, it becomes vary of and sometimes frightened of the owner. And, nobody wants that. We all want our puppy to feel loved. Most importantly, every choice we make, every toy we buy, every training option we choose, we do it with our very best intentions.
Have you ever wondered if puppy training should be an Olympic sport? I have, and I came to the conclusion that it should. We definitely deserve some good old cheering for the effort and resources (energy, love, dedication, time and other resources) we inject into training our puppies. But there are some technicalities to consider. For example, would it be classed as a team sport or an individual sport? Some would say that the question is not specific enough to give a well-established answer. And I have to agree with that. There are many dog sports which can be practiced as an individual sport and also as a team sport. The other aspect is how to establish a set of criteria to judge the performances. Would puppy training as an individual sport have different set of criteria in comparison to puppy training as a team sport? You may wonder where I am going with all these questions: to the very core of dog training efficiency. I believe that each and every puppy is different. The bread of the puppy is a good indicator of some features but doesn’t provide certainty. Puppies live in different environments, and through the interaction with their owners and families they get accustomed to different interaction dynamics. So, I believe, that up to a certain depth and strength of bond between owner and puppy the training should be individualized. So, if puppy training became an Olympic sport, I hope, they would set some kind of evaluation system prior the qualification process for the Big Games. Also, I believe that attending any kind of socialization program may that be group dog walks; group training sessions or simply play time with other dogs should be a follow-up activity only when the bond between owner and puppy is strong enough to tackle the possible challenges. As the bond is growing, that unmistakeable sparkle in our eyes becomes a regular occurrence, and every little mischief of our puppies turns into a joyful learning opportunity for all of you.
Jazzy Molly and Vincent the Wizard in good company with Lilu and Nami, the two Hungarian Vizsla ladies.
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