Keeping Things Tip Top
Was everything going well at home with training, when suddenly the behaviours that you have worked so hard to stop are creeping back? Perhaps the dog is not listening, breaking their commands or starting to exhibit the unwanted behaviours that you worked so hard to overcome.
**But Why?!**Have you stopped noticing and correcting the early signs of mental arousal?
Do you think - well, everything is going so well- my dog is ‘fixed’- my dog has changed- my dog is all better now- so you’ve thrown rules/boundaries/structure/accountability out and have gone back to living the permissive way things were before training… they way it was when the issues were created?
The **REAL **reason that things with your dog were going well was your daily hard work applying the boundaries, rules, structure, and accountability - when things are going great is not the time to become complacent and think you can relax- those rules and boundaries are the reason for your success…. and continued success!
When we relax the rules, give unearned affection and permissive privileges and do not correct and structure our dogs then we will usually see a return of the unwanted behaviour and pushy over excited mindsets that we initially worked to hard to address. The absence of meaningful and consistent leadership sends the message that all that unwanted stuff is A-Ok again!
When we miss the valuable moments to hold our dogs accountable for their best behaviour, we send our dogs the message that their worst behaviour is A-ok. To a dog, the absence of a meaningful ‘No, don’t do that unwanted stuff’ means ‘Yes, go right ahead!’
We have to be very clear and CONSISTENT about what behaviour and mindset is acceptable and what is not. This isn’t a one and done kind of thing, this is a do it right, do it polite every single time kind of thing.
When you stop telling them what is acceptable and what isn’t they most often revert back to their old bad habits- the reason they ended up in training in the first place!
Training isn’t a magical ‘fix’ for your dog. It’s the access to tools and skills and education that you have to apply consistently as a lifestyle to create and maintain new better patterns of behaviour and keeps unwanted behaviours in check… it’s the ability to allows you to enjoy a better life with your dog IF you consistently put in the daily work!