Reposting to allow sharing - I wanted to talk for a few minutes about the difference between training and management with respect to dog behavior and safety. Many times we see things posted on these forums that on the surface appear to be a lack or training, when in reality they are a lack of management. Have a dog that counter-surfs? The number one thing to do is to find a way to never, ever have food on the counter - put it in the microwave, the oven, the cabinets, or do not allow the dog unsupervised access to the kitchen - these are all management steps that should be taken BEFORE training starts. If you are training and you cannot be with the dog 24/7 all it takes is one time for you to not be home and the dog to get a jackpot reward for the behavior to be totally ingrained - that is a failure of management and not training. Have a dog that does not have a solid recall? The dog should be fenced or on leash - no exceptions - ever, until the recall is trained - that is management. Management of our dogs behavior is 100% our responsibility as owners. The dog has no input into it, where training is a 2 way street, we provide cues and reinforcement and the dog provides the desired behavior. Have a dog that is getting into the trash? Well, if they have gotten into the trash once they have been highly rewarded - so before there is an opportunity for them to get into trash containing spoiled, toxic, sharp or otherwise dangerous objects we as owners need to be responsible and manage the behavior - remove the trash can - put it in a closet, under the cabinet, outside the door, etc. Abdicating our responsibility to manage our dogs behavior by claiming that we are working on training the dog is a cop-out. A well-managed household provides opportunities for the dog to succeed by presenting desired behaviors and being rewarded...not by constantly providing temptation and setting the dog up for failure. When we anthropomorphize our dogs and our relationship with them, or mythologize the characteristics of our breed, we can often end up having unrealistic expectations for their behavior...we see this often with people who have young dogs/older puppies who are disappointed that they do not have a Nana dog, or an uber-gentle babysitter, but instead have a rambunctious, often out-of-control very large and destructive animal. There is a reason why the vast majority of dogs surrendered to rescue are 18 months old.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 00:50:56 +0000
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