There was a great post today by many wonderful trainers discussing these words and what they really mean.
Some of the wordage is credited to the trainers that are members of "Rational, Reasonable, Respectful dog trainer discussion" I can't take credit for all of the wording but I can agree with them and do run my business based on these ideas.
I wanted to share some of the ideas and what we believe these mean.
These truly are the fundamentals that all of our training is based on and it is important to have a good understanding of it.
What do these words really mean when it comes down to working with our dogs.
I want to take away some of the myths about these words first then we will dive into what these words mean and what they mean to us while we are working with you and your dogs.
MYTHS about these words
- Nothing is earned by who can scare the dog or who has the loudest, deepest voice - that is fear nothing more nothing less
- It's not about Dominance or "showing your dog who's boss"
RESPECT
- Respect is earned!
- Respect = Trust
- You have to be a safe place.
- Respect is returned after its given.
- I've heard someone say "be someone your dog wants to follow"
- In training I will point out when a dog is showing a lack of respect in a behavior
- example: jumping on the owner can be excitement, play or it can be to try and take control there is a big difference in these 3 things and this is a time when I will point out lack of respect.
- Think about it... Think about the people you respect... What made you respect them?
- Was it because they were calm and consistent in their behavior? Reliable? Trustworthy?
- Just be those things for your dog and you will earn your dogs respect!
- Here's another great example for respect and leadership
- How you carry yourself
- How you and your dog interact.
- Calm shows confidence
- Example:
- Think about the best boss and the worst boss you've ever had. The guy who yelled and ranted and went on a power trip, v.s. the guy who wanted you to succeed, helped you to do so, and who workers wanted to work for and not disappointing.
- Giving your dog direction
- Perfect example of this is for a dog like "Io" a shy little chihuahua mix in littles playgroup will sometimes observe and stand off to the side I will call her over to me - giving her a form of direction something to do instead of shutting down in a nervous unsure situation for her. She then appreciates the direction because I helped her in a situation where she didn't know what to do. These little simple things help to build a bond.
- I have never met a dog that did not appreciate fair, decisive calm assertive leadership.
TEAMWORK
- It's all about building a bond with your dog and working as a team.
- But someone has to be team captain and that should be you the owner.
- The more balanced the dog the more we interact as buddies the more problems or behaviors the dog has the more I guide to help with leadership so the dog can get or move to being more comfortable.
Think about how dogs interact and work in a pack showing leadership and gaining respect among each other.
They are calm and confident. They do correct each other but are always fair.
The quality and timing and energy behind the correction is more important than the force of the correction itself. Corrections can be half of respect the other half is the ability to step up in situations that dogs need leadership and successfully manage the situation calmly and quickly.
I hold the same true of when I work with dogs.. sometimes correction is necessary, but it needs to be fair, the dog needs to know why the correction is being implemented and their is no emotion behind the correction just calm confident and quick and no lingering emotion or upset. You want your dog to admire you and start to WILLINGLY cooperate and follow you.
What do these words mean to you?
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