Are you confusing your dog?

Over the years I have seen many dogs with behavioral problems. I am a professional retriever trainer and most of the dogs that come to us for training have some type of behavioral problem. After working with the dog for a week or two, it is often evident that the dog is not the problem. The owner is.

I know this can sound harsh and can be difficult for an owner to hear. But dogs often mirror what is acceptable behavior at home. We like to say, a dog will do whatever you allow it to do.

Sometimes well-meaning owners try their best to teach their dog and encourage good behavior. Often the dog is simply confused on what is and what is not acceptable behavior.

Consistency is key when training dogs

Consistency is key when training dogs. But often when I talk to owners about being consistent, they don’t understand what I mean. So, here are a few examples.  

Example #1:

Let’s say your dog is not allowed on the sofa. That is one of your house rules, and your dog understands this rule. But one night you come home from work, you have had a hard day, everything seemed to go wrong, and you are dead tired. You just want to put your feet up and relax. You sit down on the sofa and your dog, sensing you are feeling sad, jumps up on the sofa next to you. Since you are so tired, you just let him cuddle up next to you. After all, it feels good to snuggle with him.  

A few days later, you come home from work. It was a good day, and you are feeling good. You sit down on the sofa and your dog jumps up next to you. You immediately scold him, “Get down, you’re not allowed on the sofa!”

That is very confusing to your dog. The rules are inconsistent. Your dog does not understand the difference between these two events.  

Example #2:

You own a retriever that you use for upland hunting. You often take your retriever out for non-structured walks in a field near your home. During that time, the dog is allowed to run and run as much and as far away as he wants. You don’t call him back often and you don’t enforce the HERE command on these walks.

Now, hunting season has arrived, and you want to take your dog to the game farm or out to hunt. After the first few minutes you know you have a problem. When you call HERE, your dog doesn’t respond. He is running wild, and he won’t stay within gun range for you. He is constantly pushing out too far and scaring up birds you cannot possibly hit they are so far away.

You don’t understand, last season he was good at listening and hunting within range. What has changed?

You were inconsistent in your expectations of him all year and then expected that as soon as you took him out hunting, he would snap back into shape. That is not fair to the dog.

Example #3:

You have a very loving dog and one thing you love to do with your dog is to have him put his feet up on your chest or shoulders. You enjoy giving him love in this position. He’s a big dog, but he’s always been gentle to you.

When your friends come to visit, your dog tries to jump on them. Your friends hate this, so you scold your dog and tell him to stop jumping. But he doesn’t listen, he continues to jump or try to put his paws on your visitors.

Your rules are confusing your dog, he doesn’t understand that jumping or putting his paws on you is okay, but not on your friends.

Dogs cannot reason

Dogs don’t understand that different situations call for different rules. If your rules are constantly changing based on how you feel or what you perceive as a different situation, your dog is going to be confused. They do not understand the circumstances you are using to define a different set of rules. You are being inconsistent.

Inconsistent training results in disobedient dogs

Many people are inconsistent with their training and don’t even realize it. But inconsistency will lead to a dog being disobedient and rebellious, and it is not the dog’s fault.

Dogs want to know exactly where the line in the sand is. They want to know, I can do this, but I cannot do this. And that line cannot change based on how you feel or what you want. The line must be distinct. You cannot have rules with conditions. If your dog’s rules have conditions, you ARE confusing your dog.

Even If you have rules with very distinct lines, your dog may still want to test the rule some days. And that is okay. In fact, it is healthy. Your dog tests, you re-enforce the rule, and your dog will fall back into line and be obedient. Until the next time he tests the rules. This is how you make your dog mentally stable.

Final thoughts on are you confusing your dog

You must have consistent commands and expectations for your dog. If you stick to those consistent expectations, your dog will learn faster, be less rebellious and test you less.