We asked Janita Leinonen, the creator of OneMind Dogs Method, a couple of points about dog training and the importance of using a proven training method as opposed to common sense only.
Why should you train your dog?
An untrained dog will act purely based on its natural drives and instincts. Unfortunately this type of behavior is often the unwanted kind from the human perspective. For example, it’s quite common for a dog to protect its territory by barking or attacking visitors; chase joggers, bikes or cars; or bite people while playing with them. Other common issues are stealing food, going potty inside, or breaking things like furniture, shoes and power chords by chewing them.
Almost everything that we as humans consider problem behavior in dogs, can actually be quite natural for the dog. Here’s where good training comes in!
How far does common sense get you in dog training?
Common sense can be a good start but it’s usually not enough on its own. The reason is, it only takes into account the human’s point of view. Training that is done purely from a human perspective, without understanding the real reasons behind dog’s natural behavior, might in fact often do more harm than good.
In addition to agility and puppy training Janita also has a lot of experience in training so called “problem dogs”. In many of the cases she has seen, the owners of the dogs had all tried their best for their dogs. However, their training methods based on common sense only had actually only reinforced some of the unwanted behaviors in their dogs.
She mentions as an example a dog that always barked at passers-by when on a walk. Whenever he started barking at someone the owner had silenced him by giving him a treat. From the owner’s perspective this was the only way to stop the dog from barking. However, the dog saw it differently: he had learned that by barking he would get a treat so he needed to bark more in order to get more treats!
This is why it’s really important to choose a proven training method that teaches you to understand the dog’s point of view. When given the right kind of training a dog will easily learn to make choices and control its behavior in a way that both the dog and its owner can fully enjoy their lives together and feel happy and safe!
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