Training Tips for Sensitive and/or Distracted Dogs - Episode 6. Clarity, Criteria and Consistency!

We have a Triple C blog today! Clarity, Criteria and Consistency 🙂I will start with mentioning a discussion I had with my friends some time ago. They are also dog trainers and/or behaviourists and have an good amount of experience training and living with dogs. We were talking about rules people put into their dogs' lives, different training techniques as well as different methods of training, we touched the topics of dogs' emotions and confidence... and we came to a conclusion that one of the most overwhelming things that can happen in a dog's life is lack of consistency and clarity. If someone sends their dog mixed messages, seems to expect one thing in one moment and in another something totally different... How can the dog see it? Is the dog going to be self-confident?

The most hectic and nervous dogs that I meet on lessons and during residential training are the ones that don't know what they are expected to do in certain situations and never been taught how to do that... Some of them behave in pretty extreme way... Aggressive behaviours, frustration, high level of vocalisation, anxiety and inability to relax... Just because they don't know, they make poor decisions, which become bad habits and get stronger with repetitions. And these dogs would really, really like to learn and to know! I know these mentioned are quite serious cases... but do you see my point? 'Confused' and 'overwhelmed' are antonyms to 'confident'.

And here's why us being as CLEAR as we possibly can be, helps our Sensitive and/or Distracted Dogs! If we are a bit of hectic ourselves it surely does not help our delicate or easily distractible dog 🙂 I know both people and dogs have different temperaments and some of us need to work harder to get that skill - but it's possible! Think about all the cues and indicators that you have for your dog. Do you know what each of them means? Or what you would like these to mean? It might be a good idea to write them down especially if there's more that one member of the family that takes the doggie for walks and training. And last but definitely not least question - Does your dog understand them? 🙂 If your dog needs more bravery and support in their life it will surely help them if you sort these cues out - maybe even change or add a few more!

Make sure you have a clear idea of what is the CRITERIA for a certain behaviour/situation BEFORE training the dog. What do you want to achieve? Do you have a plan or at least a vision of step by step process? Are you ready to change the plan slightly if needed? All of that ideally should be decided before the session happens 🙂With practice you get better and better at preparing these, and I promise it will take less and less time to do that, but it's so worth it - especially if your plan is to do/ add something new! And of course sometimes things that we do not expect will happen - let's say that during the session the pup got distracted by your cat that jumped on your lap (happened to me!), but the more vision you have of how to train the behaviour, what is the process and what to do in most common troubleshooting situations - you are ahead of the game!

Let's say you are training a solid stay/ start-line behaviour to your dog. Do you know how much your dog can already do? Do you have a plan for how to progress with the training? What if the dog gets up? or get confused and move away sniffing? What if they move one paw? or lie down? How are you going to reward? When? Where - in front or behind? Are you ready? Is the dog ready? :)

Let's make it clear. Lack of CONSISTENCY is creating more confusion in our dogs. Confusion NEVER helps any dog (or person!) in general and definitely does not help with building confidence and focus! Imagine a situation when you have to make a decision but are not sure what to do. There are 2 (or more!) options but really both have their pros and cons, and you don't have experience it's taking you a lot of time to decide... How do you feel now? Confused?

Dogs maybe don't have decisions to make as complex as us but still - they do have to make decisions! (To bark or not to bark... 😉) And we can help in making the good ones! A number of 'good' decisions create... good habits! I strongly believe in the power of habits and how much it can help us and our dogs (or actually not if they are' bad' habits!). I think both humans and dogs (and other animals!) do a lot of things because of them, and it's a second nature for us to generate them.

Let's take an easy example of your dog sitting and waiting in a car crate before a walk. I'll skip all the crate training stages and just focus on the 'finish'. If you are consistent and always make sure your dog to does sit and wait before you clip the lead and say 'ok' the rule is very clear. You are consistent - there's a habit being created in your dog's mind. They will be less and less likely to try to even move towards the crate door as to go out they need to wait for 'ok!'. Your dog knows what is happening, they understand, they feel sure and confident about the situation as they are in control. They can also trust you and you don't get frustrated by having a dog jumping out suddenly. You also create a safe environment for your dog as this habit will make it very unlikely for your dog to bash out of the crate when you're not ready and the lead is not clipped on yet once you are on a busy car park before your walk. By teaching our dogs and by being clear and consistent for them, you are going to create good habits. And good habits are a foundation for a brave and happy life :)

I hope you enjoyed reading the blog and that it will give you some more insight to how we can help our dogs! Looking forward to seeing your comments! :)

Lila