This may create a shit storm
But it needs to be said. This isn’t meant to convince people to train their dog one way or the other, or to imply that one can not get a perfectly trained dog without corrections. If you have a dog with high drive to please and you naturally coexist peacefully then congratulations – you have won the pet owner lottery and this conversation is not for you.
This conversation is for those pet owners that are struggling with their pet on a variety of different levels. Maybe your dog is anxious, barks constantly, is destructive or shows aggression to other dogs and/or people. Maybe it just doesn’t listen and has no recall, making off leash walks impossible or just a nightmare as you chase them all over the place.
Many of these issues arise because of your relationship with your dog. The word relationship in the human mind will typically mean something cuddly. Love, affection etc – we equate relationship to the things that bond us to other people. However dogs view relationships in terms of hierarchy. While only somewhat related to their wolf ancestors now, there are some similarities still in the way they view the world. In a dog’s world relationships are built on dominance – those who impose it and those who acquiesce it. I hesitate to use the cliche verbiage around Alphas and top dogs etc because there is some misunderstandings around that but it does boil down to one thing. Someone needs to be the leader in the house. Someone needs to set rules – if you’re having problems with your dog – guess who’s not the leader.
What Makes Me a Leader?
My favourite dog Youtuber Tom Davis has an entire channel composed almost entirely of sessions with dogs who have not received any leadership. It is clear that we don’t understand how to let dogs know not only what we want of them but that it has huge repercussions for both the owners and the dog. So what is a “leader” in a dog’s eyes.
You can feed your dog, love your dog and even teach your dog commands but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will see you as the leader.
A leader is also not an aggressor in the relationship or someone who has to be big or intimidating. A leader is simply the person who makes decisions, creates the rules of the house and enforces them – every single time. Dogs thrive in a pack where they understand what is expected of them and where there is clear communication around those expectations. They will happily concede leadership to their human when they observe their humans making good decisions, giving rules and enforcing them and also giving consequences. (Some of the bigger, more dominant breeds may need a firmer hand for them to happily concede this leadership). What we don’t realize is that from the day that you bring your dog home, your dog is watching you. They are watching you interact with others, they are watching you interact with them and they are watching how reliable you and your decision making process is. Based on their observations a dog will adjust their behaviour accordingly – if they feel secure in your decision making process and feel that you know what you are doing they will fall in line and follow your lead.
Sit Means Sit
As your dog is observing you, they look for 2 things – an explanation of what the expectation is, and then consistent enforcement of the rules. Before having any expectation around behaviour, you MUST show your dog what you want from them. Teach wanted and discourage unwanted behaviours as many times as necessary for the dog to nail the demand every single time. Once you are certain your dog has mastered a behaviour (or stopped doing it) then you must enforce it. Sit means sit every single time, and for as long as you want the dog to sit there. Stay off the couch, means stay off the couch. The lack of consistency in the enforcement of these behaviours is the beginning of an insecure dog. An insecure dog begins to think that you don’t really know what you are doing, and that you can’t be trusted to make good decisions. In some dogs this may show as leash aggression, as they try to protect you from “threats” that they don’t think you can handle. In some dogs it may show as anxious whining behaviour in public as they become overwhelmed by the amounts of stimulus they are receiving, fearing that they can’t handle the environment.
As you can imagine, unchecked this can have devastating effects on the dog’s life and their relationship with other dogs and people. As a dog enthusiast this is probably the hardest thing to watch – a spoiled dog with no boundaries or clear rules, anxious and uncomfortable while their dog parent prefers to be their friend instead of their leader.
Punishment and Correction
So why do most people choose not to lead their dogs behaviour in appropriate ways? It can be for a variety of reason and some of them are highly disputed in the dog world. There is an entire school of dog training based on positive only reinforcement that believes giving consequences to a dog affects them negatively and is not necessary.
We’ve also all seen that person in that street with unchecked anger management issues that is yanking and pulling on their dog’s leash, yelling at them and in general just being an unpleasant human being. Based on this loving dog owners have come to the conclusion that punishment must be bad and that they never want to be that jerk on the street (by the way if you’re that jerk and you’re reading this – stop it!)
But there is Punishment which is associated with violence, a raised voice, anger and any number of inappropriate behaviours that WILL negatively affect the dog and Correction – a consequence to an undesirable or incomplete requested behaviour. Correction is one of the most used communication tools in the dog world itself. I highly encourage anyone who has never done so to watch some videos online on how dogs play in packs and how clear the communication is amongst them and how expectations are enforced. There is some good examples of it here and here.
Your own corrections should never be a result of you losing your temper or acting out of anger. They are simply a consequence, the same way a child is grounded for not coming home on time or not cleaning their room. Your dog understands and expects corrections, and they will even go so far as to challenge you to see if you will take the role of the leader and hand them out (as is often the case with big, dominant breeds). And if you don’t take the role, they will with often terrible effects.
More Help
If you feel that you get the difference between Punishment and Correction now, but don’t know how to give appropriate corrections, never fear. That will be our next article.