It’s A Dog’s Life—

Setting Goals In Obedience Training

By Mary Jane Anderson

“Why will my dog behave for my husband, but not for me?” asked a lady as she struggled to keep Butch under control as she registers for an obedience class. The complaint is common in all obedience classes throughout the country. Why can one member of a family have a better rapport with the family dog than with another? If you are having these kinds of problems, take the advice of a professional dog trainer, Blanche Sanders: “You must convince your dog that you can enforce our will — and that you will consistently enforce our commands” (Training You to Train Your Dog, Doubleday and Company).

From this essential concept, you must decide when, where, and how this is to be accomplished. A trained dog is a happier dog. A dog becomes spoiled by the owner’s default. A pack’s survival depends on the quality of its leadership. When pack leadership is not asserted, the challenger will assume leadership and start making decisions for his owner.

Think back and you will probably recall several instances when your dog has challenged your leadership. Watch in the future and you will see it happening again and again. For example, how often does your dog come on the first call? If he does, then he is exhibiting submissive or acceptable behavior, but if he comes after his final sniff or visiting a neighbor, that is dominance or unacceptable behavior.

One way to successfully train or solve a problem with your dog is setting a goal. The goal is basically a statement about an acceptable behavior that will compete with the problem. For example, if your dog is excitable and jumps all over when you enter the house, the ultimate goal is the complete elimination of the jumping. The goal would be the creation of a new response when you enter the house, such as teaching the dog to sit quietly or lying down before he is acknowledged and petted.

If you set your goal to eliminate a problem, you must replace the problem with acceptable behavior; otherwise, you are left with only one type of treatment, punishment, and punishment will never solve the problem. Remember your dog cannot lie down and jump up on you at the same time. Submissive behavior completes with dominant behavior. Elimination outside competes with elimination in the house. Coming when called competes with running away when called. The combination of reward (acceptable behavior) and correction (unacceptable behavior) is much more effective through obedience training.

Therefore, to want a problem to stop is not enough. A goal is set and a specific amount of time is necessary for the elimination of the problem and creating a new response. Obedience training, of course, can help solve problems before they start by giving you a battery of competing responses. Two-way communication must be established between you and your dog. Owners contribute to the problems and the key factor to solving any problem is the owner’s power to change the dog’s behavior. Analyze your behavior, control emotional interplay between you and your dog, and both you and your dog will be happier for the lesson.