Whether you are starting out with a brand new puppy that has never been trained or you are trying to get an older dog back on track after they have developed some bad behaviors, it can be difficult to know just how realistic your expectations are for your dog. I have worked with dogs that are clearly very intelligent but have a hard time learning the most basic commands. Like humans, even the smartest dogs will not learn or do what they are told unless they have some sort of incentive and, as an owner, you might not know right off the bat what that incentive is.
This can leave both dog and owner frustrated. You think to yourself, “This is a smart dog. I’ve seen her figure out how to open doors, she knows tricks, she understands words like ‘treat’ and ‘walk.’ Why won’t she learn simple commands?” Or, more often, we hear that an owner has trained their dog in a basic command, but finds that their dog misbehaves again when not supervised. Bradenton & Sarasota owners sometimes come to us after only a week of trying to train their dog and say something like, “I think she is untrainable.”
This, of course, is not true. There is no dog that cannot be trained. You simply have to have realistic expectations for yourself and for your dog. Your dog training will only be effective if you have time to devote towards teaching and reinforcing it and if you are as consistent as possible with that puppy training. There are lots of videos, blogs, and websites out there that claim that you should be able to train your dog to do any trick or listen to any command in less than a day. Getting this thought into your head can damage your expectations and frustrate you and your dog. It is even more dangerous to believe that your dog does not need to be supervised once he or she has learned a command or skill.
If you feel that you have been working and working and not seeing the results that you want or need, it might be time to evaluate your expectations and determine whether or not they are realistic. For example, many owners want to be able to train a dog to respond to a “come” command no matter the situation and distractions. This is a fairly easy goal and a realistic expectation to have for your dog. However, some owners also want to be able to leave their dog off-leash, unattended, and know that they are not going to wander off of their property. This is a far less realistic goal, even for the most loyal dogs. Even very loyal, very well-behaved dogs will get distracted by a squirrel and chase after it if they are left unsupervised.
Another example: If you have a dog that was poorly socialized and is sometimes aggressive, you can teach him self-control and socialize him so that he is not dangerous around other dogs. This is a realistic expectation for any dog. This doesn’t mean, however, that you can let your dog off his leash and allow him to run unsupervised around a dog park where there are lots of personalities and potentially aggravating situations. This would be unrealistic.
The key to having realistic expectations during dog training? Knowing your dog and understanding what you are asking of him. Your dog wants to please you and if you are consistent with your training, you will see the results you want!
