New Year's Resolutions and Dogs

Contemplating resolutions involving your dog(s) at the beginning of a new year? I'd like to share a few thoughts which (I believe) can help dogs and owners live better lives togeher.

1) Spend time with your dog productively. Have you ever considered how much training can be accomplished during a 20 min walk? Or how much better your dog could be if you spent that 60 mins at a dog park instead training, teaching, and learning together? Teaching a dog obedience provides mental challenges, and develops language you can use to guide your dog successfully through this world. Taking what time you have to spend with your dog, and using it wisely, can pay huge dividends.

2) Teach your dog to be calm. We have a society that preaches the wonders of socialization. Good socialization teaches dogs to behave in society, bad socialization makes excuses for bad manners and excitable behaviors. Unsupervised interactions at dog parks, doggy day cares, with guests, and with children - are all likely to set our dogs up for failure. Interactions without supervision and instruction allow dogs to develop bad manners and problem behaviors. Interactions WITH instruction, however, can produce calm and thoughtful companions.

3) Part of effective teaching means saying "NO". Hoping and wishing a dog will do what you want solely out of love is a not the real world dogs (or we) live in. It's great to love your dog, but love means helping them earn a privileged life. That comes from being a good leader, taking on the responsibility of teaching your pet, setting limits, and correcting problems. Your dog will thank you.

4) Training is a modifier, not a cure. Training your dog will help it to be its best, but it doesn't change the core personality of a dog. Training won't necessarily make a timid dog bold, or a mean dog friendly. But it can move dogs toward better behaviors, while giving owners better 'language' and control with a pet. Modifying problem behaviors without effective training is wishful thinking, not an effective strategy.

5) Real training is a way of living, not a 6 week course. The best trainers will teach YOU how to get the best from your dog. I get calls every week asking "how many visits will it take to train my dog"? The better question is "how many visits will it take to teach me how to live well with my dog"? If you don't work with your dog routinely, don't push forward obedience, and don't find new challenges to tackle with your dog, then you have room for improvement.

I hope all of you had a restful holiday season, and I wish all of you the very best in the coming year! Consider these suggestions for a more rewarding, and mutually respectful relationship, with your dog(s) in the year ahead.