Obedience training can be really fun, and it can even build confidence in some dogs. Training a dog to do tricks can take an introverted dog and make him silly or happy. The problem is that obedience does not change behaviour, only body position. When a dog is running out the front door, why is he doing that? Is he dog aggressive? Does he have a strong prey drive? Why would we need to make this dog sit down when we could just teach him, like we would teach our children, not to run out an open door because you are protecting him from harm. When you yell at your pup “Off!”, why not teach him not to jump BEFORE HE DOES IT.
Teach your dog like you would teach your own children. Imagine teaching your four year old how to remember the alphabet. Do you give him or her a reward such as a cookie when he remembers “A, B, C”? Do you punish him when he says “A, B, Q.” No, you teach him until the concept is clear. Teach your dog instead of training your dog.
Owners need to not reward the exact behaviour we are trying to correct. If you pet your dog overtime you time you walk in your house and he jumps, are you not just rewarding this behavior. So when your dog jumps on your neighbor’s 5 year old daughter and knocks her down the steps, did we all just reward that dog for doing that behaviour? Of course we did. When your dog and you are playing tug of war in your apartment or living room, and you continue to throw toys, turning the room into a schoolyard at recess, why are you then shocked and awed when your dog jumps on people and races around knocking it people and items on your cocktail table? You taught him to do that. Think of the overarching concept; teach your dog what you want him to do instead of training him and bringing him into a different body position.
