How to Build Trust with Your Dog

Cita

As far as "fulfilling the dog's needs" - what about this "having a job" business? Is it CM who talks about that? Like having some sort of task the dog is responsible for doing? I've never quite been able to figure that out - I'm not sure exactly what qualifies or how to go about specifying "this is your job, little doggy, not those other things I've taught you." Do any of you give your dogs "jobs," and does it help your relationship?

I think "having a job" has to do with fulfilling the dog's breed instinct need.  Allow the dog to do the job that its hardwired for.  And that does mean every day.  IMO, this does more to making the dog happy and content than anything else.  When I was rehabbing a field pointer, what was critical to her recovery was tapping into the breed instinct to hunt.  Now I am not a hunter but I had a lot of help from Morning Doves that decided to hang around my yard during her time with me, a nice coincidence.  There were play hunts organized by a breed group in my area that didn't do actual hunting but allowed the pointer to be with other pointers and work a field.   The same thing with a shepherd, I allowed the dog to herd...well herd my other dogs... and I did not surpress this behavior.  Whenever I get a breed that I am unfamiliar with, I study its standard and I try to attend to its most basic needs first and that includes breed instincts. 

Have only skimmed this thread so someone else might have said it, but agility has done more for my relationship with Ben than anything else.  Not only is it reward--based training, but it has taught him to *try*..to *do*...that achieving something can be its own reward just because it's fun.  Cooperating with me on an agility course means a good time for him, doing something he loves.  Even something as simple as learning to go through the tunnels has made him more confident within himself, since I can't go through them with him, but also he's learned that when he goes through that tunnel on his own I'll be right there at the other end waiting for him - I won't desert him.

And Cita, you have one of the more popular agility small-breeds...if it were something you'd be interested in.  Paps tend to be good at it. 
 

I think "having a job" has to do with fulfilling the dog's breed instinct need.  Allow the dog to do the job that its hardwired for.  And that does mean every day.

yes. I think the vast majority of dogs nowadays are bored and underexercised. All dogs are hardwired to go hunt for food, chase food, kill food, dissect the prey, and eat; to develop complex social relationships with dogs they live with 24/7; to run, play, and explore; and some have other needs, like herding dogs or hounds. What do most dogs get? food plunked down in front of them in a bowl, a short leash-walk, a squeaky toy, and a visit to the dog park once a week.

DPU

I think "having a job" has to do with fulfilling the dog's breed instinct need. 

I wonder about this a lot with Rascal - he's a lapdog breed. And in general, he's at his happiest when he's rolling around in tons of blankets and pillows, with his human, preferably in bed. That's where he feels secure and confident. And yet a lot of "dominance" theory holds that dogs should never be allowed on the bed, ever, yet I find with Rascal when he's allowed to snuggle on the bed with me he seems to be much more confident and, as a result, much less reactive/"snappy." Still, from a practical standpoint, I don't want him sleeping with me all the time (he hogs the blankets, anyways), so I'm searching to find something else that lets him feel equally secure in his place in the household without annoying me at the same time.

I'd really like to get him started with agility, I think he would really enjoy it. He already loooooves when I "direct" his zoomies by telling him where to run. He thinks it's the most exciting game in the world. Maybe he would even enjoy it enough to allow it to take the place of bed-sleeping as far as his "job" goes.