e-Dog-Training
| Parenting Lessons Learned from Dog Training |
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| Featured Article |
To some people it may seem silly to compare training dogs to
raising children. But, I’ve actually come to see many
similarities between successful dog training and effective
parenting. I started thinking about this one day while I was
shopping. There was a woman in the store who continually
(and mostly unsuccessfully) called to her very young daughter:
“Jennifer … Jenny …Jennifer …Jennifer…Jen…” After about
15 minutes of hearing this I wanted to (among other things) tell
her, “Please stop calling her. Jenny clearly doesn’t respond to
hearing her name called. She may not even understand what
you want. What you’re doing isn’t working. Try something
else.” Of course I decided against saying this. - -But it made
me think – and I realized that I had made this same mistake
when I was young and inexperienced. It’s an easy mistake to
make.
While this mother surely meant well, she was actually
teaching Jenny NOT to respond. Jennifer was learning that
when she was called, there was no compelling need to
respond. She may not have even known what was expected
of her. But she was learning that she would be called not once
– but many, MANY times. She was learning that she could
choose which time, if any, to actually do what was being
requested of her. She was also learning there were many
ways in which she could respond. She stand still and continue
touching whatever she was touching (her most common
response), she could turn around and run in the opposite
direction, or she could return to her mother (which she did
least often of all – over what seemed to be the eternity this
went on around me.) A better solution would have been for
this mom to call her toddler once – and then take her by the
hand if she didn’t respond to her name being called. This
same principle applies to your dog. Until your dog has 100%
recall to the ‘come’ command, don’t use the command unless
you can enforce it. (In other words, make sure he’s on a lead.)
If you can’t enforce the command on the first call – your dog
will learn that he doesn’t need to respond to you when given
this command. Never give a command twice. Say it once –
reward and praise lavishly if the proper response is given. If
the desired response isn’t given, then help your dog to give the
proper response and then praise him (or her.) And this
principle applies to anything you teach your dog – not just the
‘come’ command.
Another similarity between dog training and child rearing is the
principle: reward works better than punishment. Period. I
believe this is true not only with dogs – but with children as
well (and with most adults too.) Try to find your pet doing the
RIGHT behavior – then immediately praise and reward. This
will have a snowballing effect: the more you praise the good
behaviors the more frequently they will occur – the more
opportunities you will have to praise – etc…
A third similarity between dog training and parenting that
occurred to me is that both require lots of patience and
consistence. Both pets and children generally respond best
when the people who love and care for them possess and
display these qualities. Patience is absolutely necessary
whether raising a child or a pup. Without it, you are both
doomed. And, a caregiver who displays consistence
unquestionably benefits both children and pets as well.
So, I think you’ll agree, there really are some important
similarities between successful dog training and effective
parenting. You must have the proper expectations and frame
of mind yourself. It’s necessary to help your ‘loved one’ to
provide appropriate responses until he is able to do so on his
own. Reward works better than punishment. And patience,
persistence and consistence are necessary whether you are
parenting a child or training a canine companion.
raising children. But, I’ve actually come to see many
similarities between successful dog training and effective
parenting. I started thinking about this one day while I was
shopping. There was a woman in the store who continually
(and mostly unsuccessfully) called to her very young daughter:
“Jennifer … Jenny …Jennifer …Jennifer…Jen…” After about
15 minutes of hearing this I wanted to (among other things) tell
her, “Please stop calling her. Jenny clearly doesn’t respond to
hearing her name called. She may not even understand what
you want. What you’re doing isn’t working. Try something
else.” Of course I decided against saying this. - -But it made
me think – and I realized that I had made this same mistake
when I was young and inexperienced. It’s an easy mistake to
make.
While this mother surely meant well, she was actually
teaching Jenny NOT to respond. Jennifer was learning that
when she was called, there was no compelling need to
respond. She may not have even known what was expected
of her. But she was learning that she would be called not once
– but many, MANY times. She was learning that she could
choose which time, if any, to actually do what was being
requested of her. She was also learning there were many
ways in which she could respond. She stand still and continue
touching whatever she was touching (her most common
response), she could turn around and run in the opposite
direction, or she could return to her mother (which she did
least often of all – over what seemed to be the eternity this
went on around me.) A better solution would have been for
this mom to call her toddler once – and then take her by the
hand if she didn’t respond to her name being called. This
same principle applies to your dog. Until your dog has 100%
recall to the ‘come’ command, don’t use the command unless
you can enforce it. (In other words, make sure he’s on a lead.)
If you can’t enforce the command on the first call – your dog
will learn that he doesn’t need to respond to you when given
this command. Never give a command twice. Say it once –
reward and praise lavishly if the proper response is given. If
the desired response isn’t given, then help your dog to give the
proper response and then praise him (or her.) And this
principle applies to anything you teach your dog – not just the
‘come’ command.
Another similarity between dog training and child rearing is the
principle: reward works better than punishment. Period. I
believe this is true not only with dogs – but with children as
well (and with most adults too.) Try to find your pet doing the
RIGHT behavior – then immediately praise and reward. This
will have a snowballing effect: the more you praise the good
behaviors the more frequently they will occur – the more
opportunities you will have to praise – etc…
A third similarity between dog training and parenting that
occurred to me is that both require lots of patience and
consistence. Both pets and children generally respond best
when the people who love and care for them possess and
display these qualities. Patience is absolutely necessary
whether raising a child or a pup. Without it, you are both
doomed. And, a caregiver who displays consistence
unquestionably benefits both children and pets as well.
So, I think you’ll agree, there really are some important
similarities between successful dog training and effective
parenting. You must have the proper expectations and frame
of mind yourself. It’s necessary to help your ‘loved one’ to
provide appropriate responses until he is able to do so on his
own. Reward works better than punishment. And patience,
persistence and consistence are necessary whether you are
parenting a child or training a canine companion.