Radical Canines

Recently someone new to the world of dogs told me they weren’t really enjoying their training class because their dog, who listens at home, wouldn’t pay attention during class or perform any of the behaviors they practiced all week. They mentioned feeling frustrated, angry, and embarrassed at their dogs behavior. I felt for them because I have definitely been there. Honestly, I think it’s easy to be there and I’d even venture to bet a lot of people with dogs in their lives have been there in some manner at one point or another.

In a class environment, it’s easy to look around and compare your dog to all the other dogs in class; to see who’s doing the ‘assignment’ successfully and who’s struggling with it. I think a lot of people, myself included at times, put this unrealistic expectation on ourselves and our dogs to be perfect and to perform without missing a beat. Sometimes I feel that pressure even more now than when I first started because I teach classes, so in theory my dogs should do everything great. Right? Wrong. I’ve gotten a lot better about reminding myself that they are not robots and they are doing the best that they can. If they complete what I’ve asked of them beautifully, that’s great. If they struggle, we work through it, and I use it as a teaching opportunity. Either way they still go home with me at the end of class and take up way too much room on the couch.

The expectation of perfection sets a lot of us up for disappointment. We are human, therefore we are fallible: a missed reward opportunity here, a late cue there, a missed signal, it happens. Our dogs are also capable of thinking and making choices. In fact, I want my dogs to think and make choices. Obviously I want them to choose to listen to me and do what I want but that’s not always the case.

So here we are, two parts of a team, learning to communicate with one another and work as a cohesive unit. That is a challenge in and of itself for some teams and then you add inn the distractions of other dogs and people, a place less familiar than home, where things are different and exciting or maybe a little scary, and suddenly everything becomes so much harder. It’s so easy to fall into comparisons and to look out at class when you have the “naughty” puppy and feel like you’re failing. But here’s the thing, every team, even the most perfect looking team in class, struggles with something. As long as you keep trying, keeping learning, and keep working on building that relationship, you aren’t failing. Enjoy your journey.