If Had Known Then What I Know Now
By Susan Sharpe on Sunday, December 25th, 2011 |
Canine Companion conducts dog training classes in Fort Wayne, Huntington and surrounding communities and behavior consulting nationwide. Along with their combined 30 years experience and endorsement by national organizations, the lead trainers are graduates of Purdue University’s DOGS! Program and have earned the title of Certified Pet Dog Trainer through the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.
When I was in my early twenties, I did what many young people do. I got a puppy. It was my first experience with having all the responsibility of dog ownership and I was clueless.
I knew that my dog needed training and soon after bringing home my new puppy I contacted local dog trainers to see when I could begin her training. At that time, no one offered puppy classes and I was told I had to wait until she was six months old before I could take her to class. So she and I stayed home waiting for our first class.
I was very excited to begin class and followed the trainer’s instructions. My dog learned to sit very quickly, but when it came to the down command, she would not do it. The trainer told me to force her into the down position and I had to sit on top of her to force her into the down position. When it came to teaching her to walk well on leash, the trainer had me put her on a choker chain and jerk on the leash every time she pulled. I found myself jerking the poor dog continually with no improvement in her behavior. At one point the trainer took the leash from my hand and held my dog up in the air and told me to “hang her until she stops fighting.” I was young and she was the “expert” so I continued to use punishment to train my dog.
A few years later, my dog was still not responding to my commands so I went to another dog trainer for help. Exasperated I told the trainer “It seems that the more I punish her, the more she misbehaves.” He recommended that I increase her punishment by using a shock collar. So again listening to the “expert” I did what he recommended. I hated punishing my dog and at times disliked my dog because she was so bad. I even considered getting rid of her.
Then, a little older and a little wiser I began doing some research on dog training and found an article on positive reinforcement training. The article talked about rewarding my dog for good behavior rather than punishing her for the bad conduct. None of the trainers I went to ever told me to reward her, they just told me to punish her. I began soaking up all the information I could on positive reinforcement dog training.
Once I began rewarding her for good behavior rather than punishing the unwanted behavior, our relationship changed. She began repeating the good behaviors that I was rewarding. I rewarded her with anything she liked, food, toys, treats and praise. I realized I had changed when one day wanting to reward her I tossed her a kleenex, something I had punished her for stealing when she was young. Now I was having fun training her and so was she! The relationship between my dog and I went from love - hate to love - fun! I had that dog for16 years and she changed my life completely. I went from knowing nothing about dogs to being a Certified Dog Trainer.
I now know the importance of early socialization. While my dog eventually responded well to commands, she never got along well with other dogs. Early socialization is very important and because I had to wait until she was six months old, we missed a critical socialization period. It is never too early to start a new puppy with training and socialization.
Times have changed. Years ago dogs were trained with punishment. We now know a better way to train and we understand the importance of socialization. Contemporary dog trainers use science based techniques that are based on the principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning and behavior modification. These focus on the whole dog not just one particular behavior.
Tip of the week: If your looking for a trainer find one who is familiar with positive reinforcement training and has some credentials showing that they know what they are doing. Bark questions to: Canine Companion, 11652 North - 825 West, Huntington, IN 46750 or email info@caninecompanion.us
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