Why Training is Necessary for You and Your Dog

Most all of us have had some sort of education growing up. Whether you went to public school, private school, or were homeschooled, you still had an education to teach you foundational skills and knowledge. These foundational skills that you were taught and are necessary for navigating through life include—but are not limited to—language, reading, writing, manners, and social skills. Some of these things were learned by being taught, some by life experience, and often times a little bit of both. Why should education for your dog be considered any different and sometimes even deemed unnecessary?

Dogs are traversing a world that—frankly—wasn’t built for them. Many dogs die everyday getting run over by cars, consuming toxic household chemicals, being put down for reasons like behavioral euthanasia, etc. These issues and accidents are all also completely avoidable. Humans have this ideology that dogs are humans—worse yet, adult humans—even though they are an entirely different species. You may be thinking, “Well, I know my dog is a dog. That seems pretty simple.” Let’s be honest. What you know about your dog and how you actively manage your dog (or don’t) on a daily basis are normally treated as polar opposites.

I’m sure there are many people who do actively try and manage their dogs everyday—and I’m not discrediting anyone—, but we all make mistakes and some are more harmful than others. I have had clients that know their dogs jump on cars every time a car pulls into their driveway and they still don’t sequester them to an area where they don’t have access to the driveway. I’ve had clients that know their dogs jump on everyone, but still refuse to leash them when greeting guests. I’ve had clients with reactive dogs neglect to advocate for their dog’s space in public and it ended with their dog biting a stranger. I’ve even had clients who—against my advice—left their dog unsupervised in their backyard which led to the dog consuming barbecue ash, taken to the vet, and couldn’t be saved. Dogs are opportunistic and if you want to make the comparison that dogs are like humans, then dogs are like toddlers. And they’re never going to grow up.

A perfect example of dogs taking advantage of an opportunity is my Coonhound mix, Ms. Gypsy Rose. She will be 9 years old this year and has a really great foundation for functional pet obedience (ie: sit, down, recall, etc.). When my boyfriend and I are home, she is—most of the time—a model citizen. Gypsy has been left out to roam the house when we leave for years and rarely leaves her little chair where she’s curled up into a ball most of the day, even when we are home. One day when my boyfriend and I went to visit my parents’ house, we left her out for the few hours that we were gone. Little did I know, the bananas sitting atop the counter were ripening really well and smelling extra yummy. When we returned, we found the top of the banana bunch hanging on the fruit hanger bananas missing—peels and all. Because she was the only one left out—and because of the guilty howling roos she gave us when we showed her the banana tops—, she was the only culprit and found guilty as charged.

Teaching your dog to build value for you instead of your surroundings will help you manage your dog day to day. Teaching your dog neutrality and non-compatible behaviors will allow you and your dog more freedom. Teaching your dog what good decisions are and what bad decisions are will save you stress and potentially save your dog’s life. Teaching your dog how to live in a human world is essential to a happy, healthy, and long-lasting relationship with your dog. And—although they may play important roles in other aspects of your dog’s life—there is no vet, animal psychiatrist, behaviorist, or otherwise that will be able to assist you in accomplishing that.