Weird Dog Training–Go Figure . . .
by admin
Filed under Dog Behavior, Dog Training
This tale of dog training is not really in the Christmas spirit, but I think its worth mentioning . . . . It is jus weird. Don’t worry, this tale is PG, but you will see how things could have turned out differently. No doubt you have heard stranger. My point, though, has to do with thinking through your training methods. Sometimes, out of frustration, we stop thinking and resort to unusual solutions.
I recall this story where an owner drove to the dog training class in a pick up and had the dog riding in the back. Now, the story goes that the trainer gave him the lecture about how this is really dangerous for the dog. After all, the dog’s eyes and nose could suffer damage from airborne debris, or the dog could be thrown from the back of the pick up. In fact, dogs are known to simply leap out of an open backed truck regardless of whether or not its moving. (In fact, I recall one story from my in-laws about their dog one day just jumping out of a car window because it saw a squirrel.)
Anyway, the dog owner explained that he had “trained” the dog to stay in the back of the truck by throwing him back in whenever he’d jump out. Well, the dog kept jumping out, so the owner explained that after getting pretty angry about this, picked up a piece of horse manure and shoved it in the dog’s mouth. After that, the owner explained, the dog stopped jumping out of the truck. The owner went on to say that if the dog ever started jumping out of the truck again, he’d stuff another piece of horse manure in the dog’s mouth.
Now, there is no way to really know if the dog stopped jumping out the truck because he got tired of jumping back in or because of the horse manure, or because of some other reason. The dog probably considered the horse manure a treat. The point is, though, that we don’t really know why the dog stopped jumping out of the truck. This particular training method is uncertain. All we really know is that at some point the dog decided to stay in the back of the truck.
When you make your training decisions, be sure to evaluate the method and techniques based on the kinds of associations and motivators involved. You will be better equipped to match the right obedience method with your dog’s individual temperament. Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to dog training and behavior, and sometimes even the most tried and true techniques may not suit the breed and temperament of a dog.
[tags]dog training,dog behavior,right training method, tried and true dog training,dog training class,dog training methods[/tags]
Related posts:
