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Any suggestions please
I’m training a new client & dog next Saturday. As I was interviewing her on the phone she begins to tell me she spanks her dog to discipline him? He is a 4 yr old Cockapoo. She has a 2nd dog but he’s older & I’m not training him.
I know what I would like to say, but that probably wouldn’t work out very well……
Any suggestions? I’ll be happy to look up an article. I have a great dog library if you recommend a book. Thank you. ????????????
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5 Replies
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@Denise The good news is, she’s reaching out for help! Keep affirming her good intent – that she’s hired you, a professional, to show her what works.
As you talk with her about her goals, you can set up management to prevent the dog practicing the unwanted behavior. When you do that, you can mention that setting the dog up to succeed will improve their relationship. At some point, you can gently bring in the concept of timing – that for a dog to make an association with an outcome for a behavior choice, the consequence must happen within a couple seconds of the behavior. You can slip that in as you are talking about rewards, then bring up that other consequences like punishment have the same rules, and that’s just one of the many reasons it doesn’t usually work.
You can then get back to the task at hand – training desired behaviors that bring more enjoyment for all.
Usually, people are doing the best they can with what they know, and they love their dogs. She wants to do better or she wouldn’t have called. Solve her problem by showing her easy ways to get what she wants, and the issues of punishment will fade away.
Keep us posted!
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Thank you Catherine, Diggin Dogs is such a great resource. Your suggestion are appreciated.
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You are very welcome – it’s why we are here! Please do keep us informed how it goes! @Denise
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Hi @Denise ,
Catherine already made great suggestions. I just want to mention something I just ran into with a new client — I noticed on the intake form that he was using a prong collar and shock collar on his fear reactive rescue GSD, so I asked (in advance of our 1st consult) if he’d be amenable to considering other equipment options and that I would explain the benefits of some different choices. He immediately responded with, “Yes, you’re the expert!”Another client was using a prong collar with her very large and strong dog, switched to a front-clip harness at my suggestion, but just yesterday mentioned she put the prong back on because he’d occasionally pull so hard (wanting to chase cars). In addition to discussing how she could do some counter-conditioning and training at locations where she can easily control the distance between dog and cars, I suggested she double-leash him so most of the walk would be handled on the harness, but the leash on the prong collar was there for emergency backup. She was totally on board with that idea. (I’d been hired to address completely different behavior issues, so we hadn’t been actually working together on leash walking skills.)
I think meeting them where they’re at in a non-judgmental way is a good start. I think people are more open to hearing what you have to say if they don’t feel defensive. ????
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Thanks for sharing your story & help with my confidence….and your right I am glad she reached out to me to help her & her dog. ????????????
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