There is a myriad of things you can teach your dog and a myriad of ways to do it. What often gets lost in the equation is: why do we want to train our dogs? and what do they need to know?
Once you start thinking about it it’s pretty obvious that what they need to know and what we want them to know are not the same. What do we want for them?
For me it looks like this:
I want my dog to be safe.
I want my dog to be happy.
To be safe she needs to be able to:
- stop when I ask her,
- come back when called,
- not rush into new situations (=no running out of the door, jumping out of the car), and
- comply with medical exams.
To be happy she needs to be able to do things that she likes. For that she needs me to learn about her, observe and listen so that I can provide the opportunity to her.
Does any of that require fancy trick or obedience training?
No.
Can dogs enjoy tricks & obedience?
Probably, maybe – people are actually really divided on that one.
This blog aims to explore ways to teach dogs to be safe in a non-violent way and to investigate all the ways we can make them happy and their best possible selves. Maybe we can become our better selves in the process as well.