Kody is quite the dog. On the day he was given to me, we all went to Petco with Kody and his brother Flex. Flex was fine, but Kody was scared to death and shaking, and eventually threw up. What I didn't know at the time was that this is who Kody was going to be.
I never thought a dog would be this naturally fearful. Throughout this process I've blamed myself, blamed Kody, and blamed just about everything and everyone else, but this is just who Kody is. It explains why my dog experiences are so vastly different and more difficult that other people's. Now that I have some perspective and realize it, though, we have begun to make real change.
Now I watch for any sign of fear, and that happens quite often, and when I see it, I don't question or criticize it, I accept it and make a plan to quickly make Kody feel better. I don't think dogs learn much while they are afraid except to be afraid so it's good to get them out of that mode.
With an understanding of this I can understand how to go about certain challenges. I decided to switch Kody from a collar to a harness, and I knew it was going to be some work. He was excited about the harness, but he also rolled over with a little fear when it got too close to him. I expected this, and I already had chopped hot dogs. As soon as Kody got close to the harness, he got a hot dog. We did this a few times, then I started feeding him hot dogs though the neck opening of the harness, at first making sure he didn't have to get to close, and then gently placing the hot dog in more challenging places as Kody got comfortable with it. We progressed to the point where Kody was practically getting the harness over his head to get the treats. But I had no intention of putting it on. Kody will put it on when he's ready by sticking his head all the way through the neck hole to get a treat. No rush. The harness now means the most fun game is about to happen, and nothing else matters. After one game of this, Kody later found his harness and indicated that it was fun and he wanted to play that game again. So we did. Success! I'll let you know if we ever get it on.
Part of the reason Kody has trepidation about the harness is that we tried them out when he was younger when I didn't realize he was so afraid and I did many things wrong. Obviously not so much that a few treats can't quickly change it. At the time, I believed Cesar Millan when he told me to purposely put my dog in situations he feared (the technical dog training term for this is "flooding"). Poor Kody!
Now everything's fun and positive for both of us. I have had to learn a lot of patience with Kody, but it has really changed the way I view the world, myself, and challenges. Sometimes we're just not ready to do that scary thing, and that's okay. Just take baby steps and make it fun.
Aside from Kody's fear, one of the reasons I started this blog is because I started to realize dachshunds are just not like other dogs. You can't expect them to behave like a lab because their nature is to behave completely differently. They can be trained very well, and training can change what they want at certain times or in certain situations. But you can't change what they naturally want, which is to be one with their nose and go wherever and however fast it takes them regardless of a leash. I can positively entice Kody to walk on a loose leash, but I can't make that be his natural instinct. I'm sure over time, he will start to want that more, but there's no need to rush it. After all, life should be fun, right?
Have you considered writing a book on training Dachshunds? As I read your blogs, I think you have some valuable information to pass on to others!
What’s interesting is my blog started out being kind of a how to on training, until I figured out I didn’t know that much about training. I thought it would be much simpler than it actually is, especially with a dog with fear issues like Kody’s.
Now, I work with a good trainer and I feel like sometimes even successful training is not what Kody needs. What he needs is for me to understand him.
So while I still often talk about training, at least right now the main message that I’m excited about is being understanding when your dog has issues or even just starts doing things you don’t understand.
Even with all our issues, Kody has never done anything for a “dumb” reason. To him, his reasons are valid, and I just need to understand them.
Sometimes, I learn training techniques to get the behavior I want, and sometimes, I just try to understand that I don’t understand and make things easier for Kody until I figure it out.
If I had a message, it would simple be, never be mean or even angry with your dog. They can frustrate us, and Kody often frustrates me, but that’s just a sign to me that I need to figure out what’s going on.
It’s a big responsibility but I think it’s what dogs are meant to help us learn.