Comments on: Dog Training Fail: Feelings Count Too

By: Carleen

Carleen — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 19:06:45 +0000

My midlife crisis was saying, “Yes,” to a puppy. We had never been dog owners before. I must admit that Glock, had a better instinct for training people than we had for training a dog. Half Australian Blue Heeler on his mom’s side and half this-and-that shepherd from his dad, Glock is intelligent, stubborn, protective, and bossy. “Just like his mother,” was the comment made by his mom’s mom.

Probably because we didn’t know what we were doing, Glock’s feelings were very high on the list of ways we dealt with him. To the good and to the bad as I’ve discovered that where we set the bar also has a big impact on how he behaves. For example. Glock is prone to being hyper-excited when he sees the leash or any preparation for a walk. Hubby thought it was cute – enabler – but as Glock got bigger and older, his behavior became obnoxious. A trainer said we probably couldn’t change the behavior. I think he was diagnosing husband rather than Glock.

I had injured my back and was not the walk buddy when he was younger, so was basically told to butt out when I gently tried to point out that part of the problem was that Glock was always rewarded for his crazy behavior – with a walk.

When I could finally start walking him, I took his excitement under advisement but decided I wouldn’t react to it or hook him up until he stopped acting like a sled dog anticipating the start of the Iditarod. Glock is very patient with me. That drives my husband nuts.

Glock has feelings – most in the high energy Oh, boy! Oh, boy! GET AWAY FROM MY FENCE range. Our job has been to learn to be the calm ones. That’s where the training occasionally breaks down, however, because Glock isn’t the only excitable fella I live with.

By: Lara Elizabeth

Lara Elizabeth — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 15:36:09 +0000

Ruby is my little sensitive girl, and her feelings definitely shape every training session. As a fearful dog, I have to be very careful not to overwhelm her, and there are some things that will take extra patience, such as anything with props. One of our online trick training tasks was to hide a treat under a laundry basket and have the dog tip the basket over. I used a small storage crate and Ruby was too cautious to tip it over. We worked on baby steps until she was at least comfortable nudging it with her nose. I think that is one of the benefits of positive training – we don’t expect our dogs to behave like robots!

By: Pamela

Pamela — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 14:36:29 +0000

In reply to Margaret. Very wise. Anyone who thinks you can train a dog (or a human, for that matter) according to an inviolable schedule is missing something important.

By: KB

KB — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 01:48:51 +0000

I’m so glad that your big learning experience didn’t result in Honey getting hurt or killed. We all have stories like that… and sometimes they don’t end so well.

I have to consider Shyla’s feelings constantly in our training. She’s a recovering extremely fearful dog, and I’ve become very attuned to how confident (or fearful) she’s feeling. My huge fail with her was not realizing how fearful she was when she first joined our family. I took her to town for some “socialization”. I took her out of the car, and she collapsed onto the sidewalk while losing control of her bladder. Town scared her so much that she couldn’t even stand up, and I hadn’t put together all the small signs of it at home to realize that walking around town was going to be waaaaaaay too much.

Here we are 3.5 years later. We spent an intensive year working with a positive-based trainer using a technique called BAT (invented by Grisha Stewart), and Shyla appears to be a normal dog on most days. But, I do know that the fearful dog lurks under the confident exterior, and I am always on the lookout so she isn’t traumatized.

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 15:48:20 +0000

I stumbled across your blog today and enjoyed reading it. As an English teacher, I LOVE the title. While looking at products you recommend like flushable doggy bags, it made me wonder, “Where does your dog go when you’re on the boat??” Hmmm . . .

My dawgs have their own blog where they write about their crazy adventures. Feel free to check it out: http://www.asthedawgsbark.blogspot.com

By: meghan

meghan — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 22:43:46 +0000

Sometimes I feel like Nala’s feelings are the things I think about most! Ha! Still, I love this post. And one of the things I love about positive reinforcement training is the way that so many good trainers put feelings at the front and center of training, since Pavlov is always on your shoulder and the behavior that you want can only increase if the dog actually enjoys what you both are doing. It’s a magical thing, truly.

By: Jan K

Jan K — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 19:42:23 +0000

Sometimes the crew gets so excited they just cannot control themselves. As much as that frustrates me, I do try to at least understand why they are acting like idiots (LOL). Of course, they feed off each other too which doesn’t help.
I try to be sensitive to Luke’s feelings when we are working on something I know he is uncomfortable with, like the crate. We take it extra slow and keep it extra short; and I’m sure to watch him for when he might have had too much.
Our trainer was very good about this when we worked with him. He always watched for when Luke might be getting tired or overwhelmed; and we’d take a break. That was one thing I really appreciated about him.

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 14:18:35 +0000

Yes, my dog’s feeling affect my training expectations. A good example is the trainer who felt we had advanced to the point where we could assign Toby a spot in the family room and train him to go there and stay there for a long time. We started to when I thought, “why?” as in, why do I care where he lies to watch TV with us? It just felt so…bossy (he’s already kennel trained). So we quit on that.
It is scary when they go in the street like that. It’s happened to us a couple of times. I’m glad Honey was fine – bet Russ secretly was flattered that she loved him that much 🙂

By: Monika & Sam

Monika & Sam — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 02:55:25 +0000

Sam doesn’t handle loud voices very well so I definitely keep that in mind. Standard Poodles tend to be ‘sensitive’ anyway. That said, when he pulled the same thing as Honey, I admit I screamed like a banshee when he ran out in the street to see one of our neighbors across the street that he adores. Oh that dog! 😉

By: Kimberly Gauthier

Kimberly Gauthier — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 00:58:14 +0000

Definitely. Zoey, for instance, is very sensitive and I have to take care when training her, because she has anxiety. It takes a lot of time and patience like with any dog. Recently, she’s starting to stop barking like crazy when someone is on our property. She still barks, but it’s not constant and we can calm her down with a soft word and a light touch on her back or shoulder to let her know it’s okay.