The Bond is the Most Important Thing

Recently I was watching a panel discussion broadcast from a number of speakers at one of the big dog behaviour conferences (in this case the Lemonade conference). This was one of the free broadcasts put out over the length of the conference, and the topic was the future of R+ training.

It was an interesting discussion, with the participants describing their journeys into reward-based training. Like many trainers and dog pros, including me, two of the speakers described their path as ‘crossover’ trainers, from the older compulsion-based methods. One of the speakers in particular said a couple of things that really hit home with me. They have had me thinking, not so much about the future of training, but the future of our relationships with our dogs.

Rehoming Isn't Always Failure

 

The splodgy one supervising me working as a cheerful start

‘Arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand.’ Metallica, Holier Than Thou.

I’m going to be tackling a topic that many people can find difficult here, and it can be a real taboo topic in many places. It’s a subject that has become intensely personal to me since I encountered this situation for the first time last year. Today I want to talk about rehoming.

Every dog that has entered my life has stayed with me for life – or in the case of one working dog we had when we left the farm went to live and work on another farm with a relative, as she really loved to work. Until the one that didn’t.

Why ‘It’s All in How You Raise Them’ is Failing Dogs

 

Something seen frequently is the idea that a young puppy is a blank canvas, implying that how the dog will develop as they grow into an adult is the responsibility of the people raising that puppy. Anything that occurs with the dog that does not fit into the human idea of a ‘normal’ dog is the fault of those people who must have done things wrong. According to this thinking, if raised correctly, any dog should be able to fit into almost any home, any family. This insistence causes so many issues, for people and for dogs.

One of the most debated questions when it comes to biology and development is ‘nature or nurture?’ Which has more influence on the development, genetics or learning? If ‘it’s all in how you raise them’ then the answer must surely be learning, right?

Let Them Sniff

What if I told you that you do not need to run and run your dog to exercise them? That exercising their brains while out on a walk can do wonders for tiring them out. What’s even better is that it requires no equipment, other than maybe a long line if your dog’s recall isn’t as good as you would like or (as in the case of my dog) it’s safer to be able to gather them back in closer to you if something worries them?

Operant Conditioning

(A rather more technical piece than I usually publish on here. This is a piece of coursework I produced and I'm so pleased with it that I wanted to share it 😊)

It is a perhaps sad truth that the modern domestic dog lives their life in a world largely designed for the convenience of its human inhabitants. Living in close proximity with humans brings behavioural requirements for those dogs to continue living somewhat harmoniously alongside the humans. This means that most humans desire a way to control the behaviours that the dogs around them display.

Dreams vs Priorities

Some may have noticed that an entry has disappeared. Due to things that have happened which have been really upsetting the last article I wrote was removed. I’ve spoken before about the fact that living with a complex and sensitive dog can need a large amount of acceptance. Recent events added further highlight to that. There may be things we have to admit we can't ever do while sharing our lives with these special dogs. This is still a really sore subject for me at the moment but there is a lesson in it and so I’m going to share what happened. 

We Need to Stop Talking About 'Behaviour Problems'

 

How often do we hear dog guardians and the people connected with them say things like ‘Can you fix my dog’s behaviour problem?’ or ‘Can you stop our dog’s bad behaviour?’ There are issues with questions like these.

Thinking of situations as arising from a dog being ‘bad’ or doing something wrong places blame on the dog, which is not fair. This kind of question, this way of thinking, also approaches the question from entirely the wrong angle. It focuses on trying to work out how we can change the dog, rather than changing the environment or the situation to be the best fit for everyone, and meet the dog’s needs.

Because we all really want the same thing - happy dogs!

The very first thing we need to consider is what the function of behaviour actually is, what it’s for, what it does.