Is Dog Training in Decline?

by The K9 Guy, 01-30-18

Recently I have been considering some societal influences that (IMO) have been detrimental to obedience training for dogs. As a trainer, I tell all clients that obedience isn't something you do with your dog to impress friends and neighbors. Obedience is much more. It's a trans-species language. It develops teamwork and trust between pet and owners. It teaches mental discipline in dogs, which is very therapeutic for settling hyper and anxious energies in dogs. In short, if you're dog isn't the dog you want, and you haven't done any effective training - why not?

Below are 4 issues I believe are influencing a general decline of obedience in our society.

Food Based Training & Reliability

Using food for obedience has never demonstrated any real world reliability in dogs. As the use of food has grown, reliability has diminished. Training approaches that rely heavily on food may be teaching owners to accept lower expectations, rather than looking at the root of the problem.

Food Based Training & Leadership

Leadership defines a dog's listening skills and behaviors. If you're using food for all behaviors and obedience, your dog isn't working for you or your approval. You're simply a vending machine to your dog. Food degrades leadership!

Understanding Training is Therapeutic

As mentioned above, training offers a multitude of mental challenges for dogs. With those come improvements in mental focus, impulse control, and a generally calmer and more thoughtful mindset. Calmer energies mean dogs that are less hyper, anxious, and problematic. Anyone disparaging training doesn't understand or appreciate these real-world benefits, or isn't training effectively.

Blind Faith in Science

Science continues to change our lives, and dog training is no exception. For decades science has theorized that "positive only" dog training is all that's ever needed for effective training. Unfortunately, real world experience and observation has not been able to validated that theory. Also, owners might be surprised to find how poorly some studies are being designed and executed. While science will evolve, owners should simply observe real-world results when determining the best training option for their pet(s).