In my previous post on manners and puppies, we said that dogs don’t come to our homes pre-programmed with polite social behaviour or habits. And that it is down to us as guardians and caregivers to teach our dogs how to live in our homes and our world.
At On Kew Dog, we believe helping dogs learn and understand how to live successfully with us is key to having an enjoyable dog for life. And frankly speaking, a well-mannered dog makes for an easier life for both you and your dog. Your dog will better understanding what to expect and how to behave in and outside of the home.
Before we undertake a training plan, we also need to remember that each dog is an individual. A number of factors play a role in shaping your dog’s personality and behaviour. These include genetics, breed traits, physical health, learning history, early life experiences, environment, and emotions.
And just like us, dogs need to feel safe and happy to understand what we’re asking, to learn what we’re teaching, and make good choices. At a minimum, we need to ensure their safety and welfare needs are met. This is why an initial consultation should review medical history, nutrition, daily routine, and who else the dog interacts with in his/her life.
So your cute little pup learned some great skills and you’re proud of what he’s learned, but as he gets older, he seems to be forgetting his manners and training? Or you worked really hard at ensuring your pup got positive experiences, but she’s suddenly appearing wary of things or situations? Or maybe you even missed puppy classes and now need to focus on training for your growing pup?
Adolescence is a totally normal developmental phase on the way to becoming a mature adult who makes good life choices. On the way to becoming a mature adult, your dog might show more worrying behaviours (over excitement, fear around other people or dogs) or exercising ‘questionable’ choices (like pulling towards distractions, or not coming back when called). With patience and a training plan, we can guide them on their way to becoming a happy, well-mannered adult.
Here is where we focus our training for adolescent dogs to guide them through this critical development stage:
We adopted Steffi not knowing her full background, including what breed her parents were. The rescue’s best guess was that she would be a medium sized staffie cross. As Steffi grew larger and larger (she’s a lean 35 kgs as an adult), it became apparent that we really, really needed to work on her loose lead walking.
Being pulled around by a large dog is not fun, and can be embarrassing! So we set about teaching her to walk on a loose lead – reinforcing her with treats for walking at our side or with a ‘U’ shape to the lead if she was slightly ahead. She also loves sniffing the ground, so another reinforcer is providing opportunities to sniff, with the extra benefit of tiring out her brain J
We wished we started teaching loose lead walking when she was much smaller, but the good news for us, and all late starters out there, Steffi learned and models loose lead walking beautifully.
One more thing: Let dogs be dogs. After all, one of the reasons we love dogs is that they’re dogs! We’ve touched on a number of topics on how to teach a dog to be well-mannered. Well, what about happy? As well as looking after their safety and welfare, it’s really important to give them the freedom to express their natural behaviours and just be themselves, including:
One of the greatest pleasures in life for our dog Steffi is rolling in deer pee in Richmond Park. If you’re wondering whether deer pee smells bad… well, it’s absolutely disgusting! But watching the look of sheer joy on Steffi’s face when she’s rolling in the grass, we can’t deny her that pleasure. And after all, Steffi’s coat is washable as is her dog bed in the car. A quick wash when we get home is a small price to pay so that she can express perfectly natural dog behaviour.
There is a lot more to say about all of these topics and we haven’t yet talked about Rescue Dogs… so stay tuned for more content to come.
Are you ready to enjoy a happy, well-mannered puppy or adolescent dog? Then get in touch, we’d love to help.
