Why do so many people have difficult dogs?
We see a lot of dogs that have been raised by their owners in a caring and loving way but are still considered ‘difficult’.
In many cases the dogs have been to training groups, visited behaviourists and the owners have been offered advice by many but they still end up bringing their dog to us for our sought after residential training to finally achieve real and lasting results.
Why are so many dogs and owners finding themselves in a mess? These are some possibilities:
1) The incorrect dog for their lifestyle.
We see time and time again complete mismatches of character between dogs and their owners. This is often neither parties fault. When selecting a puppy it is extremely hard to pick your new dog based on temperament if you are not sure what to look for.
Most information available on the internet is very misleading. A puppy is like a sponge and will very quickly learn bad habits if allowed to do so. The key here is to really consider what behaviours you find acceptable and which you don’t and to think long-term.
Whilst it may be funny watching your 8 week old puppy charging around the house, bear in mind that at 12 months and nearly fully grown the same behaviour will be disruptive and potentially dangerous for both the dog and your family. Start as you mean to go on and think outside the box.
2) Lack of direction and support from trainers.
We often meet dog owners who have been asked to leave their training group as their dog has been disruptive. Other clients have been seeing the same or multiple trainers for months (and sometimes years on end) with little or no success. Dog training is simple when you really know how and have the correct guidance from somebody who can explain things to you as adequately as they can to your dog.
A good trainer should show you immediate results and help you achieve the same. If you are still doing the same techniques with no results weeks down the line it’s time to speak with your trainer. If your current approach isn’t working, find a new one!
3) Blaming the dog.
Dogs are creatures of habit and in order to change a behaviour you must change the habit.
If your dog is doing something which you find unacceptable it is because you have struggled to guide the dog towards correct behaviours. It doesn’t really matter how or why you are in the situation, concentrate on finding a way to improve.
For more information on our residential training courses please call us on 01785 761 441. You can also view our testimonials to find out how our courses have helped our customers.
