Do you have the right ingredients for training your dog?

Tip from the trainer #4: A baker’s recipe for clear communication
I have never been a person that could bake. Any time I have tried to follow a recipe for baking the product does not turn out correct. I either put too much of this or not enough of that and it never seems to look like the picture. I never could figure out why I can never follow a recipe correctly. Dog training is essentially the same type of recipe. We must have all the right ingredients to communicate clearly what we want from the dog.

“My dog is just stubborn!” I hear this phase a lot from frustrated owners. Their dog just won’t come when called, or their dog just ignores them.” Throughout my years of training dogs, I have learned so much just by observing and watching my dogs. Kind of like how you use to watch and learn how to bake from your mom or grandmother.

Dogs are not “stubborn” by nature. The dog you are working with maybe just be lacking that one item in the recipe to make the big picture. I have a young Doberman here for boarding. They are having some issues with him coming when called. I have observed him and watched to see what layers are missing in the recipe to have a good recall. While observing Ollie I have noticed he is missing a pinch of VALUE for having his collar grabbed, a dash of VALUE for reaching for his collar, a smidgen of VALUE of why he should even want to come to his owners.
If Ollie is not given the correct ingredients for the recipe come how can we expect him to come out like we hoped for?

Next time your dog ‘ignores” you or doesn’t listen look at what your recipe and see if it is clear enough for your dog to understand.