Doxie News Dachshund Blog
Why Dog Owners Might Give Bad Advice
Kody is getting good enough that I can often talk to people with dogs a little bit when we're on walks. I appreciate these people so much, they are almost always patient, and they always want to help.
We ran into a lady who was just putting her dog in her car. Kody switched back and forth between sitting quietly on my command and barking at her dog. This woman was quite taken with Kody and walked over to say hi. Kody just wanted to smell her but would occasionally remember there was a dog in the car a few feet away and start barking.
I would wave a treat in front of his nose to remind him there was something to be gained by sitting, he would snap out of it, and sit qietly. This was a good learning experience for Kody. The other dog was close, but inside in a car, where he couldn't scare Kody too much.
The woman said, "Don't keep giving him treats, he needs to learn to be calm without treats." In Dog Training: Do the Math I talk a little about this exact advice. It's bad advice, because why would someone advise you to stop doing what's clearly working?
I explained to her that this was a stressful situation for Kody, and that actually he was doing quite well. She said, "Why would he be stressed around me?" I replied, "It's not you, it's your dog in the car." She replied, "My twelve year old dog, how could he be a threat?"
She told me about this guy on TV who could train a dog in 15 minutes. And not just one dog, but a whole group of dogs! She gave me a name and I looked it up. It's an informercial and it's designed to sell training kits and specialized collars to give your dog a punishment (they use the politically correct term "correction"). From reading about it online, they also use scam techniques to trick people into buying stuff. For instance claiming they can't give prices without getting your credit card number first.
My point is not to criticize this woman or make a joke of her. She was honestly doing the best she could. She probably thinks my dog is bad because I give him treats for being good and she has never done that. She's a good person, but because she's had a good dog, she has the luxury of just handing out advice off the top of her head. She has no idea how to deal with behavior issues because she's never had to.
Yeah, I have used the timeout “punishment” before. So while I am generally anti-”punishment” I do agree it has its uses and can be used totally humanely and appropriately. Although timeout is the only punishment I have personally ever used. I used it to get Kody to stop chewing on the rugs, and it worked, that’s over and we don’t even have to worry about that now.
I also agree in your definition of correction. I know that many trainers use leash tugs, for us that’s not possible. Leash tugs are either ignored by Kody if they are soft or they make him really upset if they are less than soft. There’s no in between. That’s just the way he is. So we _have_ to work around that. I worry about that with dachshunds in general.
But I try not to talk about or promote leash tugs or punishments on this blog because I think that while trainers can use them correctly, regular people can get carried away and it becomes a bad thing for both the dog and her training. I had the best of intentions and I still fell into that, for which I have no end of guilt. If people are going to do these things, I’d rather they hear about them and get guidance from a professional trainer, for the most part.
Kody has all sort of things where he only gets a treat sometimes. But right now other dogs are not one of those things. In fact, if he’s super good and calm around other dogs, like he was this morning I’ll keep praising and treating even if he just stays good. I really want to pour on the “good things happen when other dogs are around” deal.
Eventually we will get to that point where he doesn’t get a treat every time he sits quietly around another dog, we’re just not there yet.
Thanks for the comment!