Great Point of View Regarding Training

I came across this article today and had to share it. I couldn't agree more with the author! In Common Misunderstandings About Training and Behavior, author Kelly Gorman Dunbar writes about two important facets of our human-dog relationship. One, the use of treats—to use or fade out, and two, our misinterpretation of dog behavior—are they being willful or are we being unclear.

I'm sure you've noticed that after you've phased out treats, and months (or years!) have passed, your pup seems to ignore or forget basic behaviors. "Oh! You want me to stay (sit, heel, etc.)?" And meanwhile, you are thinking, "Wait a minute! You learned this years ago!" Ms. Dunbar hits the nail on the head when she writes:

"Yet it seems that people want their dogs to do their bidding without getting some sort of reinforcement in return. It’s interesting to me, because this is not how we humans operate; we expect to get paid for a job well done. Nor is it the way of the rest of the natural world. We mammals do what works for us to keep us healthy, happy, and alive. Behavior is driven by its results or consequence; life is inherently rewarding or punishing."

I know Bella loves "payment" and as soon as it arrives, she is more anticipatory to the next command. Sometimes that payment is food, sometimes a bit o' loving, or maybe some ball time—but the point is, the reward works. I don't always have food with me, but I consciously bring training treats with me on certain walks or adventures, just to reinforce heeling, sitting at stops, paying attention. It works!

Ms. Dunbar goes on to write about what some owners say is their dog's willful behavior. She counters with:

"I often say that dogs don’t generalize well and that’s why we have to painstakingly break things down into tiny exercises to teach with clarity. However, there are other reasons a dog might not be learning what you are trying to teach. Or perhaps it’s not that they don’t generalize well, but rather that they really just aren’t getting clear instruction most of the time. We humans are incredibly inconsistent. We have such terrible and confusing habits as changing verbal cues (is it Off or Down?), changing the reward marker if we have one, and not telling the dog when she’s got it right."

Early on, my husband and I were wondering why Bella wasn't "getting" a couple of commands and we realized we were using different words. I was using "down" for laying down and "drop" for spitting something out of her mouth; he was using "drop" for both the former and latter command. Oh boy! So we agreed to use "down" for laying down, "drop" for downing at a distance and "out" for spitting things out. But I've noticed we occasionally use "out" for when it's okay for her to proceed us through an open door. No wonder she doesn't always respond—she's confused about what we're asking of her!

Training us is much more difficult than training the pup. Not only do we need to be consistent with the words used, but it's necessary to use clear markers when a command is executed (timing is so important here), when training is over, or when we're just talking/working with her. I wish I had not used "OK" as completion, as that word has come back to bite me several times. "Release"...or another uncommonly used word, would have been much better. Perhaps a reason for another training session for us!