Lockdown Training - Part 1. Relationship Building

Hi all. First of all, let me say on behalf of RVDAC, that we hope all our members and members families are well and coping with the lockdown. It seems doubly strange in these unique times that, for the first time in over thirty years, there is no agility or obedience classes to attend on Sunday mornings. No equipment to lug from container to field, no dogs to chase round the course in a never-ending battle to get them to listen to us and no conversations round the thermos flask to catch up with the weekly goings-on.

As we have no idea when the lockdown may end, we thought it would be a good idea to begin posting some training advice, particularly for those members who attend the obedience classes. Apologies that this has taken a while to get on the site, but my day job, working for the NHS has meant time has been at a premium for me these past few weeks. However, better late that never. My aim is to post the advice as part of the blog once or twice a week. The advice posted has been written by a chief trainer Peter and is consistent with how we teach at the club. So, without further ado, here is the first instalment. Keep safe and well.

Lockdown Training part 1 - Relationship building & Basics

Relationship building

Ditch the food bowl. Measure out your dogs daily allowance and place it in small quantities in dishes around the house that you can get to quickly. Now watch your dog and every time they do something good or look at you, give them a piece of food. You will now be looking for the good and not looking for bad behaviour to nag at them for! They will be rewarded for attention and calm behaviour and working for their food.

Basics:

Everyone thinks that obedience consists of sits, downs, heelwork etc. In the real world we want a dog to be calm most of the time, friendly with people and dogs and come when called. Everything else is a bonus. Walking without pulling is vastly improved if your dog wants to interact with you instead of everything else so follow the above advice and play lots of games with them. Remarkably this works. When you do take your dog out for a walk you will need to do lots of little recalls back to you and reward them every time with either food or a game of tug or something that they enjoy. The trick with all training is to build a relationship with your dog so its wants to be with you. It may seem obvious, but this will only happen if the time your spend with your dog is fun. Play with them, reward them whenever they perform a good behaviour. Most owners are very quick to let a dog know when they've done something you disapprove of, but can be less enthusiastic when praising a dog for doing something you approve of. It's all too easy to 'ignore' good behaviour because it doesn't easily draw your attention. Don't let yourself fall into this trap. Play, praise and reward - we should put this on a T-shirt. The key: When they want to be with you, you have cracked it – celebrate and let them know!

Check back later this week for Part 2 - Recall