It is widely accepted that dogs should be obedience trained. Studies indicate that only 4% of households with dogs attend an obedience class and 94% of households with dogs do “at least a little training” at home, with 90% reporting that their dog knows to sit on command.
Unfortunately, many dog owners don’t continue to utilize their dog’s training except in very few situations. The most common uses of obedience in a typical home include sitting for treats, sitting/staying for meals and coming when called, but only about 60% of the time. Even if these dogs were taught all the basic behaviors such as sit, down, stay, heel and come, a dog’s compliance with these behaviors becomes habitual in the contexts in which each family uses it. We quickly become frustrated when our dogs won’t sit or stay in other, more difficult contexts such as when people come over or when out for a walk and a barking dog passes by. The scope of the dog’s training experience is too limited.
Training with your dog can be so much more dynamic and so much more beneficial. Let’s go over some of the benefits of ongoing training with your dog.
- Teaches your dog how to problem solve. Problem solving is best described as the act of identifying a problem; determining the cause of the problem; identifying, prioritizing and selecting alternatives for a solution; and implementing a solution.
- Dog problem: I want to be let out of my crate.
- Cause of the problem: My mom won’t open my crate door.
- Identify solutions: Bark, scratch at the door, jump up and down, sit quietly when mom asks.
- Prioritize solutions: Sit quietly when mom asks, bark a little, scratch at the door, jump up once, bark a lot.
- Select an alternative solution: Sit when mom asks.
- Implement a solution: I sat and MOM OPENED THE DOOR!! I’m free!
- Teaches your dog how to focus. Focus helps with a dog’s concentration and is the key to helping your dog prioritize between what is going on in the foreground and background. When a dog is unable to focus, the foreground and background blend together and it is a big pile of random stimuli, thereby activating your dog. Training helps your dog to prioritize his focus and problem solve instead of simply reacting because he is overstimulated.
- Increases your relevancy. Relevancy is key to everything with your dog. This is what being the “pack leader” is all about; your dog finding you as the most relevant thing in his environment. Focus and relevancy go hand in hand with training.
- Teaches your dog to organize his thoughts. At any given time, we have many random thoughts running through our minds. Dogs are no different. They are a warm, fuzzy pile of random thoughts and impulses that turn into behavior. Training helps your dog to organize his thoughts and engage in more intentional behavior through problem solving.
- Teaches your dog to think in terms of if/then. There is a core principle in dog training known as the Premack principle. This principle manipulates probabilities of behavior. Parents use the Premack principle when they ask children to eat their vegetables (low probability behavior) before eating dessert (high probability behavior). Over time, the child learns to eat vegetables in order to gain access to the preferred behavior of eating dessert. We do this with dogs when we ask them to sit before going outside (low probability behavior) to play (high probability). The dog then learns to sit in order to gain access to the preferred behavior of playing.
- Teaches your dog to look to you for cues when in doubt or conflict. Conflict is defined as a struggle or clash between two opposing forces, thoughts, behaviors, emotions, etc. Conflict is everywhere. As an example, your dog is nervous when meeting a child for the first time. He wants to approach and investigate, but his fear in the new situation is strong. Do we want the dog to resolve this conflict on his own? Probably not because we may not like the choice he makes. It is much better for the dog to look at you for guidance when he is in conflict. That is one of the benefits of domestication; to be able to teach dogs to look to a human for guidance instead of relying on their own initiation.
- Teaches your dog to have a more intentional thought response in an emotional situation. When dogs face an emotional situation, they tend to short circuit and engage in repetitive behaviors such as barking, lunging or withdrawing, hiding, etc. This does not actually resolve the conflict of the situation, but it sure burns a lot of the adrenaline that has flooded into their system. When we have to think through a situation instead of simply reacting to it, we find alternative solutions. We tend to be less anxious with additional options in an emotional situation. Consider police officers, who learn to run to conflict when the rest of us are running away from it. This is because they have been trained on how to handle that conflict. The same is true for dogs. Training can help an anxious dog learn to think through emotional conflict generating alternative responses.
- The process of acquiring new behaviors creates a small amount of conflict teaching better conflict resolution. The act of learning something new creates a small, manageable amount of conflict. Let’s look at a dog learning “down” for the first time. The dog wants the treat, but in order to get the treat, he has to flatten his body to the floor. Only then is the treat given to the dog. The dog has to learn what he has to do in order to get the treat. This entire process involves conflict resolution.
- Teaches your dog that it works better to do things your way. We always think our way is best until we learn another way to do something. Dogs are impulsive creatures that want the fastest and easiest way to get what they want, now! You can test this by making your dog a tasty meal in his food bowl and instead of giving it to him, place it up on the counter. Now walk 10 feet away and try to call your dog. Most dogs will stay near their food bowl with their conflict increasing as you continue to try calling them away. They don’t realize that leaving their food to comply with you would get them their food faster. This sequence is a part of what training does for dogs. It teaches dogs to rely on their humans because things simply go better for them when they do.
- Allows your dog to manage and control disappointment through compliance. Disappointment can be a great motivator when training your dog. Disappointment causes conflict and conflict causes problem solving. Problem solving produces alternative solutions which then resolve conflict. Simply complying with a given command can help your dog to manage and control disappointment.
- Creates opportunities for negotiation. Negotiation helps us to adjust our approach to get what we want. Human: “I’ll play with you if you stop barking.” Dog: “I’ll stop barking if you play with me.” These are the classic if/then statements that are a part of every negotiation. Dogs can learn to negotiate with us by offering behaviors that may increase or decrease the likelihood of something occurring. They will determine if their negotiations are successful based on our response. This is all a part of problem solving and conflict resolution.
- Allows your dog to be in control in more appropriate ways. There is too much emphasis placed on the importance of being the pack leader and the need to control everything your dog does in order to be in charge. The reality is that we want our dogs to have an element of control in our relationship. How else would we know when to reward a behavior? Dogs need to learn that they can control their access to a reward by engaging in certain behaviors. These include behaviors they are commanded to do as well as behaviors they offer based on their experience. The more compliant a dog is with our commands; the better things go for him. Great training is about negotiated control of the things that are important to us. A down when asked is important to us while petting and praise is important to the dog. Not jumping on guests is important to us, while greeting people is important to the dog. Everything is a control negotiation.
- Can reduce some anxiety and fear not just because it builds confidence, but because it teaches the dog to take calculated risks. We often hear about the benefit of training in terms of building a dog’s confidence. Confidence is defined as a feeling of self-assurance from one’s appreciation of one’s own abilities. Before we can build confidence, we must first teach dogs to take calculated risks. Risks are a tall order for fearful or anxious dogs. These dogs often want to do whatever it takes to feel safe. Feeling safe involves avoiding risk. But learning involves taking risks. Dogs need to learn to take small risks that work out well with our guidance. This will improve their problem solving and conflict resolution.
- Fosters body control by creating an awareness of what their body is doing or should be doing in a given situation. Dogs must learn about their body in order to learn obedience. They have to learn to fold their legs until they feel something under their hind quarters when asked to sit and that will get them a reward. They must maintain their body position when asked to stay, despite the location of their person or what is going on in their environment. They must fold up their legs until they feel something under their hind quarters and chest when asked to down.
Training has so many benefits. For maximum benefit, you want to keep your dog thinking, teach him new behaviors and teach old behaviors in new contexts. Continued training keeps a dog’s learning skills sharp and can be of tremendous benefit should the time come to resolve unwanted behavior. Training is a foundation for teaching a dog how to learn what you are trying to teach him. It is a two-way street of negotiation between you and your dog. Training helps dogs think and problem solve. The better problem solvers they are, the better they will be at resolving conflict because they have many alternative behaviors to select from before reaching their conflict threshold. Once they reach their conflict threshold because they have run out of options, training teaches your dog to look to you when everything he knows to do is not working. This gives you the opportunity to handle that situation for them or to guide them to an alternative solution. Did you ever think training could do all that?
Sam Freeman, CPDT-KSA, is the president and owner of Pet Behavior Solutions and Edu-Care for Dogs. She is the creator of the Core Behavior Assessment, which is the behavior evaluation program used by many animal shelters and animal control agencies in Arizona. Freeman is certified through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers and has completed specialized education and training in psychology, learning theory, ethology, family counseling, behavior modification techniques, aggression, canine and feline behavior issues, and grief counseling. Reach her at 480-200-2011 or visit petbehaviorsolutions.com.
