Dog Training Question #1
I received a question from a blog reader the other day which I thought would offer value to others as well.
I would like to get a quicker response to commands like you and fred get from your dogs. Should i increase the level on the remote? My dog works on level 1 & 2 right now.
Levels are all relative to the dog and to the situation. Increasing the intensity on your remote may result in a faster response, but it is a very one sided approach. There is also a good chance that the opposite of what you want could happen. The dog may slow down. My guess is the latter would be the most likely to occur.
The main reason you see our dogs performing commands so quickly is two-fold:
Firstly, our dogs have a clear understanding of the collar language and what it means in terms of performance. If your dog doesn’t have this understanding, then even if the collar is set to the highest level he won’t respond the way you want.
The second reason is the dogs have a high level of desire to perform a given task. Our dogs are not robotic creatures that work without reward. We always offer the dogs a release to break them out and encourage animation, speed and focus.
There are also genetic factors that come into play, and a slow dog genetically is never going to be a blazing-fast dog. The limitations of the dog are always a factor.
All in all, it comes down to understanding on both ends of the leash. The dog must understand what you want clearly, and the handler must understand how to motivate the dog properly. Pressure simply impels the dog and enhances clarity.
We have many great videos demonstrating the clarity and understanding that our dogs demonstrate, but the video below in particular is great for showing just an average day of training at the dog park with my two dogs.
In this clip you’ll see that in every sequence I have my dogs do, there is a toy involved of somewhere. This is their release. My dogs love toys, food, interaction, ANYTHING. They are high-drive dogs, and as such I tap into that drive in training. By linking commands with something of desire to them, they develop a strong desire to perform certain commands. Obviously I’m using a Sit Means Sit Dog Collar with my dogs in the park. This is my attention tool, which enhances anything I do in any other avenue.
