By now I suspect you realize that without daily practice, you won’t more forward. The classes are where you, the trainer, learn what to do and how to train and work with your dog. Then, it’s up to you to follow thru with the homework and have daily training sessions. Those are the 2 parts to any dog training class. I could take your dog and train him but that wouldn’t teach you what to do when I’m not around. You’re the one that takes your dog to the vet, the groomer or to dinner with your family so YOU have to know what to do.
Picture this: Your dog has an appointment at the vet for an exam. You park your car when you arrive and when you open the car door, you tell him to WAIT. Then you tell him LET’S GO and he walks nicely by your side into the office. The staff note what a nice polite dog he is as you tell him to SIT and STAY for petting. You take him to the scale and tell him to PLACE on the scale, then STAND and STAY. You head to the chair to wait your turn and as you seat yourself, you tell your dog to DOWN and SETTLE. Someone comes out of the examining room with a cat and because your dog is interested, you tell him to WATCH you until the distraction has gone. You head in to the examining room where your dog once again is told to SIT and STAY for petting and then to STAND for an exam by the vet. As you’re paying your bill, another owner drops a biscuit within reach of your dog so you tell him to LEAVE IT. As you are heading out the door after your appointment, you see a lady heading your way with 3 German Shepherds so you say WATCH and do an ABOUT TURN to take another route to your car. As you near your car, you’re so relieved things went well, that you excitedly do a CHASE RECALL with your dog to tell him by your actions how happy you are with him!
This scenario is NOT impossible if you have worked with your dog at home during the week. I’m sure your vet wouldn’t mind if you stopped by and let the staff pet your dog. You could weigh your dog on the scale and sit in the waiting room for a few minutes so he knows that sometimes you just have to settle down.
EFFECTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL TRAINING OF YOUR DOG MUST INCLUDE YOU!!
This may sound a little silly but I can’t stress enough how much you are responsible for your dog’s behavior. You MUST make the commitment to working with your dog in your daily activities. If your dog is misbehaving, you need to figure out what to do so he will be a better COMPANION.
Having said all that, now go back and review all the previous homework sheets and practice what we’ve learned so far in this class.
Click here for Homework Worksheet
