The Secret to Getting Your Best Dog

As a firefighter for over 30 years, I have learned the importance of regular training. In that arena, daily training is tested and put to good use every day. Weak areas are identified, strengthened through more practice, and tested again in real life situations. Yet in the areas of dog training, I often see a big disconnect for many owners between training and application.

Before I discuss this further, I think it's important to mention 2 core beliefs I've developed over many years:
1) I never see training as something that is "done" - I see it as something owners should be doing (every day).
2) I believe there is a huge difference between training for success, and training to never fail.
When you consider these two points together, they bring into focus a clear reality (at least for me) - the more you need to depend on a dog's obedience to be reliable, the more work you'll need to do. This is really common sense, and the reality of the world we live in.

So to discuss these concepts further, I have many clients that have modest expectations for their dogs. They may simply want their dog to walk nicely on a leash, or go lay down during dinner. These goals will require less work than owners wanting their off leash dog to come off of chasing a squirrel, or to hold a down when guests are coming in the front door. Are all of these realistic goals for every dog - for the most part, yes. But owners with higher expectations need to be realistic, and be willing to do the work needed to reach those goals. And once they are reached, daily practice will assure continued long term, reliable, real world performance.

Another area of disconnect I often see is owners who do all of the work, but then fail to apply it. If you have a dog that's crowding a door when a guest arrives, what can you do? Well, if you have solid obedience on board you could call the dog to come away from the door, place it in down, and go greet your guest without any canine drama. Training should be seen as a skill set you teach your dog, but it's still up to an owner to use those skills through the language of obedience. Dog's will always need daily supervision and guidance for everyone to live well together,

So to sum things up, the secret to getting your dog's best is this:
STEP ONE - Train your dog.
STEP TWO - Use your training - every day!