Canine Coaching

My belief

I believe the only way to truly change or train a dogs behaviour is to work with its natural instinct. If you try to go against its instincts the dog will automatically shut down and not respond to your training. There are many theories and training systems being used today but what we have to remember as dog owners is that in the wild, every dog in the pack has a position/job. This will range from the dominant Male or Female to the lowest level of sentry. The dogs that perform in a superior manner, regardless of his position in the pack will receive recognition from pack leaders. The "lower ranking" work hard to be appreciated. The strongest of the "lower ranking" are rewarded with appreciation from their seniors. Those who don't fulfil their purpose for the pack are banished or shunned. This is "pack life." So as long as the natural desires and needs of the pack and individual are provided for, they will be happy and content with their position. In this letter I am going to explain how you use this basic pack instinct in training dog's behaviour.

How times have changed

Times have changed for the dog, gone are the days they could just roam and do their own thing all day long and then come back to the home at night to be feed. There were less aggressive dog attacks 40 or 50 years ago than there is today. This is due to the control of dog laws that have been brought in by the government over the last few years. Do not get me wrong they are the correct laws; however some of these laws have been taken to the extreme by some owners and made some dogs less sociable than ever before. Dogs are highly social animals, and their behavioural patterns account for their trainability, playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and social situations.

Natural instinctive behaviour

Much of the dog's natural instinctive behaviour revolves around learning how to interact with other members of their species. This is where we sometimes slip up as dog owners, it all goes back to the pack instinct. If any individual of the pack does not fulfil their obligation to the pack, for whatever reason, the other lower ranking members will challenge him for his spot. If we do not give them the opportunity to socialise and interact with the own species and show leadership when doing so, we are not fulfilling their basic need. If we show any weakness to our dog, in its own head it has to take over as leader whether it wants to or not because there must be strong leadership within the pack. The domestic dog prefers living in a social environment, and generally considers us humans as part of their family/pack. As puppies, the playing with other family members and other animals is important as it teaches them how to properly interact. Helping your dog to gently and consistently know what acceptable behavior is will help him/her be more comfortable. If we do not show them or tell them what is expected of them it can be very stressful for them, and can send mixed messages.

So how do we become their Leaders

The number one mistake we as dog owners make is that we treat them like humans. The human race is such a kind and compassionate species. We look at our canine companions as being the same, but in reality they are animals. The mistake is made when we only give affection to our dogs. We miss out the key factors that a dog needs in its life. To a dog, constant affection without rules or having to work for it goes against its instinct. They have to fulfil their instincts everyday to feel balanced and happy. We as dog owners/pack leaders have to provide this balance in order for them to achieve this. Giving affection is important but it must be done at the correct time.

Dogs pick up on energy; they can tell whether we are excited, nervous, scared or calm. We can only successfully communicate with our dogs if we use our body's energy rather than excited words. For example if our dog does something wrong and we yell and scream at them, it confuses the dog and can create a fearful response. This not the way the pack leader corrects his followers. Humans often give the dog mixed leadership signals, which throw the dog off balance, confusing them and in turn causing many psychological and behavioural problems we see in dogs today. This is some of the common behavioural problems we see in dogs. Messing in the house, obsessions (toys, food, bone ect), chewing, separation anxiety, over excitement, excessive barking, whining, not listening to their owners voice, no recall, chasing, aggression towards other animals and aggression towards humans and this is just to name a few.

If you calmly and assertively correct the dog at the moment he is doing the unwanted behaviour with a touch, then this they will understand. They understand because you are using the same discipline that pack leader or another dog would use to correct them. An important thing to remember is that the dog must be doing the deed at the time of correction for you to successfully communication with it. When you open up these lines of communication with your dog, it can't help but impact on the entire relationship and bond you share. The advantage of working with a dog's natural instinct in your training is that you create an environment where your dog chooses to work with you and doesn't feel intimidated or forced to perform under the threat of violence. In many cases you have to replicate how dogs interact with each other, working with Mother Nature and with the natural instincts that drive the dog. It's a give and take process, just like any functional, working relationship. If you use your observation skills, watch them, listen, identify, interpret and develop an understanding of the dog's actions, feelings and needs. If you also use your energy, voice in a soft tone, subtle movements (body language) and scent - in a consistent, reliable manner. You can be sure that the dogs involved will be studying and picking up on all of these gestures, regardless of how subtle they may appear to be. Training like this is motivational, non violent and based on repetition and positive reinforcement. Knowing what normal dog behaviour is will help you understand why your dog does what he or she does.

The human race has successfully domesticated the dog, but we have never managed to totally de-animalise the dog and remove their strong natural instinct. We cannot change a dog into having human characteristics as much as we like to think we can. We can pretend we can fulfil our own needs in doing so, however this where the behavioural problems begin. While we think we are treating a dog in such a way that it is happy, we are actually creating the opposite in most cases. By not fulfilling the dog's natural instincts i.e. walking, rules, boundaries and limitations we are creating a confused and very unhappy dog. To happily coexist with our dogs we need to understand their needs first. Dogs do not live in the past and they do not think about the future, they live in the moment and they live for the moment. They do not premeditate their behaviour and they do not rationalise their behaviour either. They use particular behaviour traits, which they think is the right way to be at that particular moment. In my mind if you begin to treat your dog with calm energy and correct the unwanted behaviour and show them at that moment what they should be doing then you can fully re-train a dog's behaviour using the strength of it's natural instinct to your advantage.

Hopefully this has given you an insight into how dogs work and how you have to be with your dog at all times. Remember I can change your dog's behaviour you will need to continue the work once the dog comes home. I have enclosed also three handouts one being the Canine Coaching Leadership Program. You need to read this as this will be you guild to becoming a good pack leader.