Some dog owners think that training their dog is a formal enterprise that involves attending classes, walking in an ordered circle apace with other dogs, and receiving a Good Dog certificate at the conclusion of the course.
Even if you and your dog have never set foot – or paw – inside a dog training facility, you have already trained your dog.
Take Mocha, a Chocolate Lab of immense proportions. His owners have despaired of his unruly behavior. Yet they were able to teach him to Sit for a treat. The trouble is, that is the only instance they tell him to Sit.
Mocha is motivated by treats, sure, but he also wants so many other things. He loves mealtime! Toys! Playing fetch! Taking a walk! Getting petted! Car rides! Amazingly, he would, if requested, Sit for ALL of these rewards. No one ever asks him, though.
Mocha’s owners thought that he would always barrel out the door, dragging them in his wake. They never imagined that having him Sit first was even an option. After all, he was never “trained.”
If you visualize what you want (a dog that doesn’t leap crazily while you prepare his dinner, i.e. Sitting!) and then ask him to Sit every time you feed him, you are training your (untrained) dog.
Using that same formula:
(Patience x Consistency) + Sit = Desired Reward (Food, Walk, Game, etc)
…its incredible what Mocha, or YOUR untrained dog, can do.
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