Don’t Wait to Begin Training! Get Started NOW!
Like your dog’s medical health, behavioral health is not something you should postpone. Getting your dog trained should be at the top of the priority list, right next to getting checked out at the vet and getting their bag of dog food. Even if your dog isn’t showing signs of severe problems, there’s no need to wait around to see if they develop!
Whether your dog is a young pup or a mature adult, they are looking to you as their owner/parent for some type of direction. Remember back when you were a child and you had some sort of adult figure to look up to, like a parent, an older sibling, or a teacher? Your dog seeks that same figure within you! It is a dog owner/parent’s responsibility to show their dog how to be a happy dog, through good behavior, set boundaries, and tons of love. We can still instill rules and at the same time, be affectionate with our dogs. We can still say “No” to our dogs every now and then for bad behavior, and also shower them with praise when they demonstrate good behavior.
My Austin dog training programs aim to set dogs up for success, so that reward is the norm for dogs, and correction is minimal to non-existent. But there’s no harm in correcting your dog’s bad behavior, otherwise how else will they learn? Correction does not need to be harsh or severely punishing, it is simply showing the dog that there are alternative behaviors that are more suitable, and it is something the dog should strive for more. Training does not have to be tedious, draining, or mean for the dog and owner, it can actually be quite the opposite—engaging, fun, and serves as a bonding activity for both dog and owner.
Look at it this way: if your dog was showing some annoying habit, maybe some dominant marking or light chewing on your furniture and shoes, or maybe even just sporadic hints of food aggression toward you or another pet in the house….what would you do? Sure, it doesn’t seem like a major problem, and you can toss it up to a variety of factors such as the age of the dog (“He’s just a puppy! He’ll grow out of it!”), or that they came from a rescue (“He just needs love, not bootcamp training!”), or the usual response…”It’s not that big of a deal!”.
While I was working with my colleague, a dog trainer in Oakland we discussed how it may not be a huge problem now, but things could change dramatically. Maybe your young puppy will realize that the annoying habit is being tolerated, so therefore they’ll take it to a level where it goes from annoying to extremely problematic and disruptive. Maybe your rescue will feel more comfortable in the home and with you, that they start to see what other boundaries they can cross. Maybe your dog’s bad habit isn’t a big deal now, but tomorrow it can escalate to dangerous proportions.
Why take that risk? Why not get your dog set up for success and immediately shown how they need to behave in their home and with their family? Why set them up to develop serious issues and then add more confusion and anxiety to their life? Training can seize these issues, but they can also prevent these issues from forming in the first place! Don’t wait for your dog to lose his mind completely or to bite someone before you get him help…start early and show your pup how to be a happy, behaved dog!
Are you struggling with training your dog? Has your dog lived a life without training and now both you and your dog desperately need some behavioral help! Give us a call and we’ll help you eliminate these problems! We can be reached at 800-649-7297.