Clever dogs and crazy people with Wendy Graydon The Dog Trainer

My clients often email me and tell me about their dog from their point of view.

I often write down notes beside their thoughts and create a full picture of the dog that I will be training. Here are some of the notes from a client. The names have been changed to protect the owners and their dogs.

Notes from the owner of their dog ‘Gonzo'

• 10 month old Labrador.
• Good on the lead and off when other dogs are not around.
• Becoming quite a handful and very strong when he sees other dogs.
• He does socialise with my neighbour's dog but is very ‘in your face', I don't like letting him off when other dogs are around.
• He tends to have painted on ears.

Notes from the owner of their dog ‘Gonzo'

With my notes added:

• 10 month old Labrador (Age for asserting for right with in the pack - may not listen to owner's command or slow to respond).
• Good on the lead and off when other dogs are not around (Not trained to be polite around other dogs, may pull a lot on the walk and demand to sniff everything/mark territory).
• Becoming quite a handful and very strong when he sees other dogs (Over excited and does not know the rules or there are no rules on the walk/working in crisis mode).
• He does socialise with my neighbour's dog but is very ‘in your face' (Not being taught to behave with other dogs, over excited, puppy behaviour, other dog may put up with it mostly).
• I don't like letting him off when other dogs are around (Owner feeling anxious and a little lost as to what to do. Owner realises the dog will not respond to any commands once focussed on something else/dogs etc.).
• He tends to have painted on ears (Not trained to recall).

Training must be kept simple or the owner will give up and put up with the behaviour, or just not walk their dog.

They may even avoid all contact with other dogs, which will make the dog even more excited by seeing other dogs. Mostly dogs just want to have fun.

While we are trying to get them to behave and ‘be nice'.

We tend to think of them as children instead of dogs that hump, pee everywhere when there is an opportunity and chew, growl and snarl at other dogs.

There are such dogs! But yes we forget that they are dogs and not children or babies.

We humanise and want them to be sweet and nice and not hump the other dog; we want to not be embarrassed by them.

Dogs are embarrassing and over the top creatures so hold onto your hat and be ready for a leg lift when you don't want it.

The word is dog not a child that is 50 per cent of the problem, start training your dog and you will have more success when you stop humanising.