6 reasons why training doesn’t work

Our dogs and us are living, sentient beings, not programmed robots. Our performance is affected by many factors – health, both physical and mental, the environment and many other things. Sometimes something doesn’t work out for us. AND THAT’S OK! Training sometimes doesn’t go. But what can we do about it?

Diagnosis

Since it’s OK, should we do something, or should we just sit and wait? Ha! Sometimes waiting is not a bad idea, but from sitting problems will not be solved – unless the problem is fatigue 😉.

What is it that makes working with your dog go like hell, that we have setbacks, frustrations? Look at these areas.

Pain/discomfort

Work with a healthy dog. Joint pain, muscle pain, illness and even vaccination are all issues that can make working with a dog not go as expected. Training is also affected by whether the dog is hungry/eaten or has met physiological needs. Remember to keep these things in mind before starting a training session.

Environment

Have you planned a training session in a place that is too noisy and crowded? Do you have enough space? The goal of training is for our dog to listen to us anytime and anywhere, but it’s a goal, meaning we won’t achieve it right away. By throwing the dog into an environment that is too difficult, we make the dog focus on the stimuli rather than the training.

Training – preparation

When you exercise, you know that part of training is a warm-up, that sometimes before you start running, you march, alternate between running and walking. Think of working with your dog as you would any workout. First the easy stuff – then the hard stuff, and finally the calming stuff 🙂 .

Bonding/partnership

Are you understandable to the dog – are your commands clear and understandable, or does the dog have to guess what you mean? Do you spend time with your dog outside of training? Dogs learn very readily in the presence of people they understand and like. Don’t just be a strict teacher, but above all a happy guide.

Emotions

Today it is a widely accepted fact that dogs have the ability to feel emotions. And lucky for us! It used to be that dogs were denied the ability to feel them. Although we still do not know how dogs feel and react to different emotions, we often observe that fear or arousal significantly affect the learning process. Thus, they affect effective training. This applies to your emotions and your dog’s emotions!

Repetitions

This is a typical technical reason why training doesn’t work. You know the saying that training makes perfect? This means that it is not enough to do an exercise once at home. You need to practice commands with your dog in different conditions and many times so that the dog learns the task. But, beware: sometimes an excess of repetition is not good either. When the dog gets bored and you make him repeat his least favorite task over and over again, instead of improving and consolidating it, you can spoil it. Because the dog will dislike them. HAVE you had a least favorite subject in school? Do you remember how you approached it?

To do it!
Once you identify which point (or points) is the biggest obstacle in your training, you can work on it and get back to work.

How to do it?

• The dog hurts something, is hungry – go to the vet, feed it
• You are doing too few repetitions – plan training anew
• Bond – play with your dog, not just demand it
• and so on…

Be understanding to the dog and to yourself!