It's NEVER the Dog's Fault!?

[Adina P]

So I was having some troubles with a piece of Boca's training and reported our progress to my training mentor when, in my written description, she spotted EXACTLY what the problem was.  I skipped an important step and thus Boca responded poorly and lost some confidence. Totally my fault. Now her 'loss of confidence' is a temporary thing and only related to a specific exercise, but I still felt really bad that I had made such a glaring error!  However, my mentor consoled me with the fact that most of us screw up here and there with our dogs as we train, but it's rarely irreparable.  She reminded me she made lots of mistakes with her first trainee and yet this dog still got super well trained in the end and has been an awesome dog.

 

But then she said the following which really got my attention and I thought deserved to be shared.  She has given me permission to share this excellent insight here:

"It's a cliché, but it's true... it's never the dog's fault. Not in the sense that they aren't deserving of the consequences of their actions, but a bit of healthy determinism is helpful for the trainer to keep in mind. Dogs can only do what they do, if they could have done differently, they probably would have. That is not to say the dog is not making choices or isn't thinking, but that the dog can only make choices with the information s/he has, and sometimes it's not what we think it is. How you respond to their decisions, however, is what will influence their future choices so that they can choose a different outcome. So, when a dog fails to understand something I expect, or gets distracted or is disobedient, I still will correct or re-train as is appropriate, but it's not done with a sense of indignity (how dare he!) or frustration (why doesn't he get this by now?), but rather, 'Guess we didn't do enough to help him choose the right choice. Maybe this will help him choose better next time.'

It's hard thing for students to get--that the dog's response is not important.... your response is.

They tend to get hung up on every failure of the dog ("He needed 5 corrections before he would sit near that other dog!") and not on whether they handled the failures in such a way that the dog will probably choose better next time. The discovery of training holes should be an exciting thing, 'Oh, now we get to work on this!' Because with each discovered hole and each patch-up job, the dog's overall reliability can do nothing but improve--not because you've proofed a particular distraction, but because you've proven to your dog that you will insist; that you are consistent."

I simply found this reminder to be spot on and very helpful.  What do you think?  Do you agree/disagree?  Can you see where you might apply this in your training sessions?

 

[Bridget B]

Absolutely Agree!  I didn't used to think of it this way, until we completed a training course.  The instructor said, if your dog didn't pass, don't blame the dog!!  That's when I started looking at my training differently, and more from the dogs point of view.  Now it's pretty obvious when I have been lax in enforcing rules, because my dogs behavior starts slipping.  Then I know I need to be more consistent.  I had another trainer say "It takes a lifetime to teach a dog to sit".  Until then I thought once a dog learned something that was it.  But he was right, if you don't follow through consistently, the dog will regress. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I see that demanding the dog do what you want, consistently is amazingly powerful.  Our dogs now sit (with reminders) before entering or leaving the house and the car.  What I mean by this is that I do agree strongly with the fact that it is what we do, how we do it, and what we demand, that is the catalyst for the dog's behavior. We need to be very clear in letting the dog know what we want and expect.  But I hate mistakes and I want to be perfect so that I can perfectly train my dog.  I am just not a fast learner and I am such a klutz that I know I give the wrong signals to Ned, then I feel so badly....  Like saying heel when I mean sit or giving a sit correction at the same time as telling him to sit or beginning the stay or stand without the command first.....  At least I can see that Neddie poo still loves me.....

[Adina P]

No one else wants to bite? ;-)

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

There just isn't anything to disagree with here, Adina!  The obedience classes I have taken it was perfectly clear that they were training me not my dog!  If I did the right thing, the dog did.  If I was confusing, the dog didn't know what he was supposed to do.  My dogs are smart and eager to please so if they aren't getting something I figure it's my fault for not giving clear instruction or practicing it consistently enough.

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

When I realized my dog will respond to what I tell him IF I tell him exactly what I want in a "language" he can understand, he will try his absolute hardest to do what I'm telling him, it made me a more effective and patient dog mama. Since English is not his first language, he looks for other cues if he doesn't understand the word. Body language and facial expression are powerful communicators. My belief is if one of the guys isn't doing what I've asked, I'm the one who's not communicating correctly.

My sister tried for months to get an otherwise intelligent, funny and eager to please standard poodle housebroken. When I suggested, she may have inadvertently given him the wrong message about what she wanted, she got ticked off at me. Obviously, the "if the dog isn't behaving, it's 'cause you're not telling it the right thing" philosophy isn't shared by everyone. :-)

[Adina P]

I prefer to limit body language and facial expressions to a degree.  Except for praise.  What I mean is simply that during a training session I want the dog to learn and understand the "word" because I'm teaching him correctly.  Any other cues need to be purposeful and planned.  For example if I want to include a hand signal then I teach that too.  But I try to keep my body language neutral and not to make excessive gestures and such...well TRY not to (I probably still do all sorts of things wrong).  In other words I want minimal cues so that the dog doesn't respond to accidental cues or connect the wrong things together.  I want to be able to give a verbal command in a neutral voice and have that obeyed the first time.  That's the goal.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I really do believe that this is true.  It amazes me every day how patient Murphy has been with me.  I've expected more from him than he was ready to handle so many times, yet he managed to never loose faith in me.  He's still always willing to try, even though some things are just too tough.  He's hung in there with me through multiple trainers and approaches.  He's still always willing to put on the training collar and go to work.  I really believe that he says little "doggie prayers" that I'll eventually "get it", and I'll understand why some things are just more than he can handle, and I'll learn how to help him so that he'll be able to see another dog pass by and not get "crazy".  I haven't been able to figure it out yet, but I will.  Sometimes I think I've been listening more to trainers than to Murphy himself.  He's been teaching me little by little.  One thing we've just learned is that if I "straddle" him and hold him firmly (but gently), when he's frantically reacting to another dog, he'll calm right down.  He taught me this one quite by accident.  I think that makes him feel safe...like I have "his back".  I'm just so happy that he never lost his trust through all my "training" missteps.  I'm sure that I will make many more mistakes, but as long as I keep building our relationship and strengthening our bond, we'll get there.  Thanks for sharing this, Adina.  It's a great reminder.

[Pat and Traveler]

Sometimes it IS the dog's fault.  I know there are times when Trav is just naughty.  On purpose.  In spite of knowing I won't like it, in spite of any prior training, just for the fun of it.  I don't know if this behavior is a 'decision' or 'fault' in human terms, but he's not a robot and the possibility exists that he might do what HE wants, rather than what I want.  

[Adina P]

Well I guess then that just shows a training 'hole' that needs patching.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

While I am in general agreement with "it's never the dog's fault" I also strongly believe that even the best trained dog will sometimes intentionally "choose poorly". 

 

Roast beef sitting on the counter can be scarfed down in a flash, and the dog will show you with his eyes that he knows better, but the roast beef was worth the risk.  Some dogs can never be trusted to always come when off leash.  The smells in their nose, the wind in their ears and centuries of breeding to run just scream "choose to run"  no matter excellent the training.

There is a classic story of "poor choices" in "The Complete Siberian Husky" by Laura Demidoff.  One of the founding breeders of the Siberian Husky lines in America had a beautiful, exceptionally well trained female husky.  She was not only trained to pull a sled and show confirmation with several Best in Shows to her credit she was also had her CDX and her owner was now working on Utility.  This lovely dog's biggest hurdle was the long (30 minutes) down stay with her owner not in sight.  One day she did everything exactly right and held the down stay like the champion she was.  The owner returned to the ring and called her to come.  She came inmediately and obediently.......... to the judge, jumped up on him and licked his face, then promptly sat quietly in front of the judge. 

I respectfully submit that is "choice" not a hole in training.

Sort of like me and chocolate.  Yep, it's full of sugar, goes right to my love handles and yep I still eat too much of it. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree that there's room in my thinking for the occasional "bad choice" made by a very well trained dog.  I love your story Maryann.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I love this story too.  The dog did everything correctly and then chose to jump and lick.  How could you not love that dog?  Is there a case for saying that a dog that is so highly trained and obedient may just be a teeny tiny bit boring?  Just throwing that red herring out.... Obviously the dog that is not trained so often ends up being re homed or in the dog pound.