Something to think about when it comes to dog training (or parrot training, or training any other animals) …if you demand or beg for participation, it is not REALLY about cooperation. It is applying pressure, coercion, even force. You may notice more dog stress signals or avoidance. You probably will not see an eager willingness to stay in the training game. Let’s talk about the problem with begging your dog to train.
It is a common dog training problem.
People may feel pressured to get their dog or puppy to do what they want because they do not want to be embarrassed around others, because they have a short period of time to work and need to get the training in, or because their pet is just not doing the wanted behavior.
Often what happens is their dog will begin to check out or shut down. Their pet may feel the need to move or look away, lay down with his head on the ground, go off to sniff or zoom or do anything else. They may notice a yawn, lip lick, tail lowered, blinking eyes, furrowed brows, and/or change in breathing.
The more frustrated these people get that their dog is ‘blowing them off’, ‘being stubborn’, or ‘not listening’, the more they beg or even demand for participation. Frequently people do not even realize they are applying pressure but I see it in their dog’s response to them.
It can be overwhelming to the learner. And it can become an unpleasant cycle for both the teacher and the learner. Think about that if this is happening to you.
The more you apply pressure, the more that lesson is becoming stressful and unpleasant. The less you are giving your dog control and choice, known as agency. Training is becoming something that is just not fun at all.
If you want your dog to be engaged, to want to pay attention, to want to keep trying, that is NOT the way to get there.
Dog training should be fun!
Whether you are teaching dog manners or a sport or ‘trick behavior’, it is still about using your pet’s brain and body, getting to do things and eat things that your pet enjoys, and associating those things with you.
Training should still involve agency.
There are SO many potential reasons why an animal will ‘check out’ of a training lesson. It could be the environment is too difficult, it could be that you are applying pressure, it could be that your criteria is unclear, it could be that you are not using high enough value reinforcers. It could be something else.
There are times when it is better to stop or pause training, to give yourself time to think about what happened and adjust rather than trying to push through.
An important foundation to training is teaching your pet that training is fun, listening to you is fun, working is fun. And it is totally worth the effort!
