To train your dog to be well behaved for example with other dogs, to respect your visitors space, to listen when you let them off lead and many other scenarios, it will be much easily achieved if you work on the foundations in the home. The irony of the common practice of going to dog training classes is once your dog is perfect in the home and you have the foundations it will more likely listen once in the training class and you probably would not even need to be there.
Ask yourself the question with each behaviour, where does it start and do I have the foundations of good behaviour at the beginning point? For example if your dog barks at other dogs, does it bark at dogs inside when it sees them out of the window? If it does then it is easier to manage inside the house than it is outside or at a training class. Or if your dog jumps up at visitors, ask yourself does it jump in your space? If you teach the dog to never invade your space then it is less likely to jump at visitors. Or if your dog chews objects when you leave the home, do they know what they are allowed to chew when you are in the home? If they do again, there is less likely to be a problem.
It is the same with children, teaching starts at home and this is where the foundations to good behaviour start. How do you know they will likely be well behaved in a restaurant eating a meal? Because they are well behaved eating at the dinner table at home. If they are not well behaved in the home then you can expect there will be a problem in the restaurant.
Attempts to address the behaviour at the later points is always harder.
Advice from people
There are exterior pressures from people to get your dog outside for a walk, to socialise, to play otherwise we feel guilt that we are bad dog owners. This has been drilled into us by experts on television, from friends or strangers saying how many times a dog needs a walk and what must happen in order for them to be happy. The situation requires some questioning and peoples advice is often detrimental to the relationship and training with your dog.
Just the other day I was walking with a German Pointer puppy on long lead practicing recall in Wimbledon Common in South London. A lady came up to me and said it is a shame I don’t let the dog off to run and play. I explained that I do not know if she would come back. She said I should just try and see. I declined to take her advice because I am not going to play Russian Roulette with a dogs life in hope that it will come back. Instead I waited until the dogs recall response was perfect each time I called her in the home, then on long lead outside, then in an enclosed area and then finally in the park off lead. Not surprisingly the puppy came each time I called her because the foundations were strong.
If you need help to train your dog and get the foundations of dog training with any situation contact us at https://dogtraininginlondon.co.uk/
Dog behaviourist / dog training and dog sitting. West London.