Blogs

September 2007 - Posts

  • When Punishment Doesn't Work

     Over the years, I've had a lot of conversations with others about the necessity, or lack thereof, of punishing dogs.  On the forum lately, at least one poster complained that her dog "attacked" her, after being punished (don't know what kind of punishment, but assume it's physical if a ten month old pup has to use his teeth to fend off his owner). 

    I can't help but wonder why people who do this are so anxious to continue, even to the point of the dog retaliating.  Clearly, the punishments have not worked, or the dog would no longer be pee'ing in the living room or raiding the trash.  So, why is it that people get so defensive over the need to punish?  Must be the dog's fault - maybe the dog has a screw loose - had forty gazillion dogs in my life, and none of them were this bad..... No, of course they weren't.  But, it seems to me that the other dogs were probably of a less independent breed, or less confident individuals.  They probably cowered or shut down, and never attempted to bite.  So, was the owner a great owner then?  Or, was the owner still just ignorantly abusing dogs by expecting them to know things that were never properly taught to them in the first place? What I see is that the person finally got a dog that didn't get it - and perceived the punishment as unfair.  Dogs hate unfair.

    At any rate, I vote for NOT continuing the same tactics and expecting different results.  According to Einstein, that is the definition of insanity.  For god's sake, if punishment doesn't work, stop defending it and try rewarding what you do want.

     

  • The Relationship We Want With Dogs

     I spend a lot of time reading posts about what we want dogs to do for us, or how we want dogs to behave, but the thought occurs to me that we spend little time trying to build a relationship with our dogs, based on trust, communication, and consistency, before asking them to behave as we wish.  The difference between domination and cooperation is a big divide that some of us have not yet fully comprehended.  I feel that my dogs are not human, but that they are sentient beings with feelings.  Case in point - joy.  My new training center opened yesterday with a play group.  Dogs that have not seen each other in months filed in one by one to this new strange space, but you absolutely could see their faces light up as they realized, "OMG, my FRIENDS are here - YAY!!!!!"  Best play group we have had in a very long time.  And, people were shocked to see the looks of recognition on the dogs' faces, plus the level of excitement and happiness evident in the play.  These guys were darned glad to see one another again.  So, if you think that friendship with dogs is irrelevant, and it's much more important to get a precise "heel", think again.  Your dog is willing to do a lot for you, if only he understands, and if he already likes you;-)

 
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