Cooperative Family Unit

I talk a lot about having a cooperative family unit. What in the world am I talking about? Instead of trying to dominate your dog, potentially making them afraid of you, you work as a team to figure out how to live together in a positive way.

Let us take a new puppy and its family. The new puppy and family do not speak the same language. They are excited to be together and everything is fun. Puppy needs to go potty and the family is not seeing the signs puppy needs to potty. So puppy goes potty on a very expensive rug, the family gets upset, the puppy gets upset… Family yells puppy cowers. Everyone is upset.

Family thinks okay, we are missing something here, how do we make this better. They watch cues, see that puppy needs to potty. Family takes puppy out to potty. The puppy and family are happier. Family decides they need to be consistent in what they want from puppy. Puppy starts to understand what family wants and does it.

So going back to previous posts this is where the Verbal Marker and Release Commands come in handy. Puppy starts to learn our language.

Most people, even those that have had dogs do not see the body language or cues dogs give us. Thats okay! The one big reason there are many dog trainers in an area is because people need them to understand their dogs. Dog Trainers can be the interpreter for you and your family and that is a great thing. When looking for a trainer make sure you are on the same page with them and if not move on to the next one, but remember you want a cooperative family unit, not a dominance submissive relationship with your dog.

So what isn’t a cooperative family unit? A family that doesn’t give the dog a chance to learn. One that constantly yells and is upset with the dog. An owner that uses physical abuse to get the dog to do a command. One that constantly ignores the dog, leaves them outside, and doesn’t interact with them fulfilling their needs.

One of the hardest parts of being a dog trainer is working with a dog that has had trauma. It breaks my heart, there could have been a better way. The best part is seeing that dog with trauma grow and trust people/situations again.

This is Frodo! He is one of my most favorite doggies. His mom knows there was trauma before her, so I work with Frodo to help him be the best dog he can be. When you fulfill your dog’s needs you see them grow. I constantly put Frodo in situations he isn’t sure of, but together we make them okay. Frodo lets me know where our boundaries are and I try not to push him too far too fast. I challenge Frodo but also know when he has had enough. Respect between us is a two way street.