Consistency In Dog Training
- Comments: (5)
- Posted by Paul on May 19th, 2009
I know that we always stress consistency in dog training, and we have even blogged about it several times before. Bottom line – it is worth mentioning again! The reason that I am writing about consistency right now is in thanks to a client who absolutely surprised me in class tonight.
This client has had only three lessons with us; two at their home, and one in a group setting. 8 weeks had gone by since the last time we worked with this particular client and his dog, and I expected the dog’s behavior to directly reflect that long gap in training.
As soon as we put the dog through her paces I was immediately surprised. Things that had been introduced to the dog 8 weeks ago had improved dramatically; the dog was recalling off-leash in heavy distraction, she was staying on her placeboard, and she was walking nicely with her owner (off-leash) on a hike and bike trail.
As I was talking to the owner, he told me that family, friends, and work had been really busy and he had just not gotten the time to bring her out to training classes. BUT, he walks or jogs with his dog everyday (heel) and he enforces basic manners in the house (come, sit, and place). Not only did his dog not back slide during his break from training classes, but dramatically improved due to his consistency in his daily life.
Dog trainers can teach your dog how to behave and show you how to improve communication with your dog, but ultimately that will only take you and your dog so far. On a good week for a group training program, a trainer will maybe see a dog for 2 hours of formal training; that leaves 166 additional hours in the week that you are interacting with your dogs. This is where consistency is needed.
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- Post Categories: Blog, Tips for Owning and Training Dogs, Unleashed Unlimited Client Stories
- Comments: (5)
Where did you get the shorthair pic? The face looks just like Jenga.
The dog in the picture is same dog that you met the other night, and is the actual dog that the article is about. I took it a few months back.
Cool. Thanks!
What kind of dog is that in the pic? It’s gorgeous! And what a great story, to show how simple follow-through and consistency can have such a huge impact in training.
That is a German Shorthaired Pointer, very cool dogs!