Behavior, Socialization, and Training

Trying to decide what level of training is right for you and your dog is not all that easy. Most people of the dog world recommend "obedience" training. Most dog owners, however, see "obedience" training as marching around in circles teaching their dog to be perfectly aligned with their left leg. Indeed some classes do that, but most classes for the beginner are simply using typical obedience commands as a tool to teach basic teaching and handling skills. What most dog owners really want is simply a well mannered, socially acceptable dog. How much work it takes to achieve that goal depends upon many factors the most important of which are: the patience and consistency of the teaching, the temperament of the dog, and the amount of time the dog has the opportunity to learn. The more time the dog spends as a member of the family the more easily it will learn social skills simply because it will have more opportunity to practice, make mistakes, be corrected, and receive praise for behaving well.
Effective training requires good timing. This is the most difficult thing for most dog owners to learn. A critical difference between the way people learn and the way dogs learn involves the use of language. A parent can explain to a six year old child that an action (praise or punishment) is related to an event in the past. Language connects the present action with the past event. Even more importantly language can be used to identify and describe for that child exactly what behavior merited the action. Dogs, for the most part, lack language skills. Good timing becomes critical to connect the action (your praise or correction) to the event.

Learning how to communicate without words is the most important basic skill you can learn in a good quality basic obedience class. If the instructor has the skill to teach you to read your dog's body language and how and when to react to it, then you will be well on your way to a polite, socially adept dog. For example: Suppose you want to teach your dog not to chase a cat. The least effective way of doing it is to yell at the dog after it returns from chasing the cat. The second least effective way is to yank the dog back as soon as it starts to run after the cat. The most effective way is to correct the dog for thinking about chasing the cat. HUH? How do you know what the dog is "thinking"? Observe the dog. Its attention will be on the cat. Observe the body language of the dog - see the tension rise - if you've let the tension crest you have waited a smidgen too long. Don't wait until the dog actually tries to take the dinner off the table, express your disapproval when the dog shows an interest and focus on it. By timing your response to the point at which the dog is forming the intent to act, but has not yet committed to it you will be able to make the strongest connection between your response and the act.

The best basic dog training classes teach you why to do what and when. Most mediocre training classes teach by formula. The mediocre instructors have little or no understanding of dog behavior, or how to read dog body language. Good timing is very difficult to learn by yourself, with only a good book or video tape. If you don't have access to good quality instructors then at least practice with a few other people so that you can watch one another and observe each other's timing of responses to the actions of each dog. Well timed praise is just as critical as well timed correction.

One of the other problems people face is conflicting information. There are a lot of different training techniques, and some that sound very different but are really not. It is confusing and there is no getting around it. The only advice I can give you is that virtually any training technique you actually use consistently and patiently will probably result in a well trained and well behaved dog. It is worth taking some time to explore the different styles and philosophies to find one that you are comfortable with and will use. There are some very good informational sites on the web. I have listed a variety of them and tried to identify their focus.