Thankfully football season is back.
Watching the Red Sox was getting impossible. Especially when they lose to the Yankees. UGH!
So with football back we all know that Tom Brady is going to march the Patriots straight into the Superbowl and all will be right with the world. I sometimes wonder if I like football so much because it is a lot like dog training.
You see, football is a series of stops and starts. The game lasts close to three hours but each play lasts just a few seconds.
And this is important for you to remember when you are training your dog. It really is a series of stops and starts. The problem is that most people don’t treat training this way. They forget the stops. They let their dog make the decision when to stop.
Last night I was working with a client and I explained to him one of the most important parts of dog training. He was amazed, he couldn’t believe his good fortune of hiring me to help him train his dog. He wanted to pay me more!
Well, maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that but he was happy to finally figure out why he was having problems. You see, what I explained was that EVERY command has a beginning and an end. When you give your dog a command “stay,” it is the beginning of the command. You HAVE to make sure you end it.
You have to release the dog from the stay command.
I know this does not seem like a big deal but it is. I know so many dog owners that tell their dog “stay” as they walk out the door and leave for a few hours. There is no ending to the command.
So if you’d like to improve your dog’s obedience, start using a release word and remember that every time you give a command your dog should do the command UNTIL he hears the release word. The release word I use is, “BREAK!” I say it very enthusiastically to let my dog know that she is now “off-duty” or in football terms, the play has ended.
So when you give your dog a stay command, when you are walking with your dog, when you call your dog to you, you should always use a release word to END the command.
So always remember that dog training is a series or plays much like a football game. The best play to make NOW is checking out any of our classes that we start every month. You can check them out by going here:
Best
Eric