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Are Your Expectations For Your Dog Reasonable? November 2012 There’s a middle ground for everything. When it comes to their dogs, though, owners usually expect too much or too little from their dogs. From those that expect too much, it goes something like this: He knows how to sit! He’s just too stubborn to do it when people come over. Or, for those that expect too little, it’s a version of this sentiment: Oh, he’s just a puppy -­‐ you can’t expect a puppy to know how to sit at this age! (Mind you, their dog could be 8 years old, but this is the language they use). The problem with both of these viewpoints is that the expectations of the owner are way off. This month’s newsletter will take a look at our expectations and help you decide if you’re being fair to your dog, or if you’re just making excuses for your dog’s not-­‐so-­‐polite behavior. Expecting Too Much Dogs, like people, need to be taught what to do. They don’t intrinsically know that we don’t like it when they pull on the leash, jump on our visitors, or bark at the neighbor’s dog. They only way they know what to do and when to do it is if we take an active role in teaching them the rules of the road. The people who expect too much from their dog are usually forgetting about three factors our dog’s face in their daily life: distractions, distance, and duration. This means that just because your dog knows how to sit, he can’t automatically sit when someone rings your doorbell, he can’t sit in place when you’re 20 feet away from him, and he can’t sit and stay – unless… Unless you take the time to teach him how to sit with those three criteria. Each of these conditions must be taught individually then (and only then), can you start putting them together and use them in real life. For instance, let’s say I’ve taught our new service puppy in training, Monti, to sit when someone wants to pet her. We taught her to do this: at home (not in public -­‐ distractions), with family members (not with strangers -­‐ distractions), and we pet her as soon as her butt hits the floor (she doesn’t have to keep her butt down for long -­‐ duration). For me to expect her to be able to put her butt on the ground at the local farmer’s market is awfully unfair. To put it in a different context: when you watch professional sports teams execute specific plays, they aren’t running those plays for the first time. They’ve practiced those plays forward and backward and 1
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inside out during practice (many practices – some with pads, some without, with full contact, without contact, etc.), before those plays ever make it to the playing field. The coach makes sure those players can flawlessly execute the play before calling it. He’s sure those players are ready for the play. Why would you ask your dog to do something that you haven’t adequately prepped him for? Expecting Too Little On the flip side, there are people who think their dog isn’t capable of basic manners. We’ve all endured the large two-­‐year old “puppy” who is “just super friendly and wants to say hi” by putting his front paws on your shoulder and looking you in the eye. Friendly? Maybe. Inappropriate? Definitely. ALL dogs can learn good manners – the owner just needs to take time to teach the dog. Expecting too little from a dog is just as unfair as expecting too much. Imagine if your son had NFL football talent, but the coach of the neighborhood league had him on 3rd string and didn’t develop your son’s talent. How frustrating would that be to you and to your son? Finding a Balance We expect a lot from our service pups in-­‐training. They need to be exceptionally talented dogs. However, we evaluate each dog individually and against the job they’ll need to do (not against each other). Take Siena, the Great Dane pup in training that was just released from the program. Based on her temperament, expecting her to walk into a public situation without reservation or fear would have been expecting too much from her. But since the job required that, we did the right thing for the dog and found a fantastic home for her where she could live a fabulous life being adored. Siena wasn’t going to be able to make the progress necessary to become a service dog. Instead of forcing the square peg into the round hole, we readjusted her life so it would suit her. At the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Asti Spumante, the little Labrador puppy in-­‐training. She’s almost 16 weeks old, but we expect her to sit before being petted, to walk nicely on a leash (no pulling), to look at us when we call her name, and to exhibit a fair degree of self-­‐control. When I ask her to sit before people are allowed to pet her, the usual comment is “Oh, she’s just a puppy, she can’t (or shouldn’t be asked) to do that.” Oh, yes she can! Believe me, she can sit before someone pets her. Expecting any less of her would be unfair to her, to the program, and to the people who want to pet her. She can’t sit for very long, or if there are too many people who want to pet her at once. But she can sit before being petted. So we adjust our expectations to meet the dog. And in the end, ultimately we are responsible for whether or not the dog can meet our expectations, not the dog. 2
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As I expose her to more distractions and increase the amount of time she needs to sit, I can then, in turn, expect her to be able to handle those situations. But I can’t expect it if I haven’t taught it. Think about your dog and what you expect from him – are your expectations fair? Or do you need to add some training into your dog’s life for him to be able to meet your expectations? Conversely, are you making excuses for your dog’s behavior? Maybe a good manners class is all it’ll take for your dog to be a canine good ambassador! Check out your local positive reinforcement trainers and get him enrolled! Laurie Luck Professional Dog Trainer Smart Dog University Facebook Twitter YouTube 3
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