Aesop’s Fables pt. 2

Originally posted 12/12/2008

Well, I've written about the Aesop's Fable about The Tortoise & the Hare, and how it relates to dog training.

How about "The Little Boy who cried Wolf"?

We all know the story: The little shepherd boy wants attention, so he comes running into town, crying that there is a wolf threatening the flock. The townspeople respond by running into the hills to protect the sheep, only to find the boy didn't really mean it; he was playing a joke on them. After this happens several times, a real wolf comes along. This time when the little boy cries "Wolf!" no one in town believes him and the flock is killed.

Obviously, the human moral of this story is about being truthful. But what about the dog training moral? When applied to dog training, this lesson teaches us to say what we mean, and mean what we say to our dogs.

Very often, I see owners simply miscommunicating with their dogs. They say "come" to the dog, but don't really mean it each time.

Or they use different commands at different times. Believe me, 'sit' means something different than 'sit down' to your dog. 'Off!' means something other than 'Down!' Or at least they should. But if you mix up commands, your dog won't know what the heck you want.

Sometimes, owners are unable or unwilling to show the dog that when they say 'stay', they really DO mean it.

Dogs need true feedback to know what you want. They learn by feeling an instinct (or desire) - responding to the desire - experiencing a result of their actions - and judging whether they want to repeat that process or not. Keep that learning flow in mind when working with your dogs:

desire -> action -> consequence -> new desire based on consequence.

Are you lying to your dogs? Are you crying "wolf?"

If your dog gets a different result from you each time he does a behavior, it's unclear to him whether you like the behavior, don't care about the behavior, or don't like the behavior. Obviously, there are other factors besides how you feel about his behaviors coming into play, but if you are practicing good leadership and training methods, your dog DOES factor your responses into his next desire/action/consequence sequence.

When your dog does something, are you responding consistently, every time??? Owners sending mixed messages is the number one communication break down for dogs.

Unlike the little shepherd boy, most owners aren't doing this on purpose. But they are doing it. The end result is a confused dog and a frustrated owner.

So the next time you begin to get frustrated with a particular behavior your dog is doing, check and make sure you haven't been crying wolf...responding with so many different consequences that your dog doesn't know the truth - the truth of what you really expect. If it's you that has been inconsistent and unclear, you must go back, reteach the skill and be consistent with your feedback.

That's it from this end of the leash.

Jennifer Hime is the Owner & Dog Training Director at Front Range K9 Academy in Wheat Ridge, CO.  She can be reached at:  k9counselor.com