As you know, the trifecta of any puppy raiser is to raise a dog for IFT that is well-socialized, well-behaved, and has good obedience. But is good obedience just the ability to perform sits or downs or stays? Of course not! If it were, I would have nothing to blog about today, right?
Obedience should be viewed as tools that you can use to create a dog that is well-socialized and well-behaved. A dog that will hold a sit-stay cannot possibly jump on visitors. A dog that will do a down-stay for an entire meal will not be a nuisance in a restaurant. And a dog that understands and responds to a verbal "no" is a pleasure to live with.
Obedience is a way to control the dog and enforce the behaviors you want. For instance, we have the pups do sit-stays before and after going through doors. It's not to show off their obedience - it's because a dog that does a sit-stay while you open a door can't bolt through it. Make him sit enough times and that behavior becomes a habit and he gives up bolting.
Another role that obedience serves is to establish a relationship with the dog. It's the way you set up the ground rules of your interactions. Clear, consistant obedience commands that are followed by PRAISE if done right or the APPROPRIATE correction if not is one way you communicate to the dog that you consistent in your expectations, generous with rewards and fair with your discipline. Obedience is one of the first things trainers do with new IFT dogs. We want to establish our working relationship right away and obedience is a great way to do that. It's a quick way to tell a dog "here's what I expect, here's what will happen if you don't comply and here's what will happen if you do. And if you agree to do it my way, we'll get along just fine".
Good obedience should not be confused with "perfect" obedience. And your expectations ALWAYS need to be age appropriate. Your 4 month old dog doesn't sit unless you lean over and put his rump down? Good! She's not gonna. Not yet. Can't get your 7 month old to down on command for love or money? Perfect! He's right on schedule. Your 14 month old, oh-my-gosh-IFT-is-in-2-months-dog won't return to a perfect heel position? Eh. Does he get close? Is he happy when he works? Is he not petrified to make a mistake? Is he well-behave and well-socialized? All right then. Congratulations. You've done your job.
blue cape
3 comments:
This is great and one other thing is the house training. My dog is great on leash, but the house manners I was told her had have not been observed by this graduate who has had more than 20 years of working with guide dogs. I think that good off leash obedience is just as important as on leash obedience and all raisers and area coordinators should stress this as much as the on leash work.
Lin and Major
Wonderful, Karen. All of this certainly makes sense, especially the more Pups we raise and the more mature our Pups become. It is so exciting, no matter how many Pups we have raised, to see the Pup progress through all of those different stages. Finally when it is nearly IFT time, our Pups seem so "grown up" in so many ways. We don't think that hyper, hard to control 3 month old Pup will ever become mature.All of a sudden that time appears and we are so proud of our Pups. Then when it is time for Puppy Raiser Day, you watch in awe as the Pup we have raised is much more mature than ever imagined. How proud we are!! You said it could be done and with hard work and lots of praise, it does happen. Thanks for all your advice and help.
Thanks for reassuring us that we aren't shooting for perfection. We try so hard, but sometimes get discouraged when OB is a little sloppy.
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