Frustration

Good morning, seeing that we have been dealing with a frustrating situation with our cable provider combinded with lack of a solution of late I thought that frustration would be a good topic for this mornings blog. As a dog trainer it is something that you must watch for, for the untrained or unexperienced it may go unnoticed. Frustration comes in many forms and when it is a dog that is becoming frustrated it may present itself in a hidden form.

Frustration is typical in training; sometimes it is hard for our dogs to "get it," and a dog will become frustrated. If what you are doing is not working; you much switch gears or move on. A very good example is when you are teaching a new puppy, using a food reward of course. Most puppies just want the treat; if they have to wait too long for the treat they will start to exhibit some unwanted behaviors like jumping, whining or biting. So what do you do if your dog becomes frustrated?

The solution to this problem is to break a behavior down into baby steps. For some dogs the whole picture may be too much to undertake so breaking say a down or leave it into tiny doable pieces makes it easier to "get it." So although the goal may be to have your dog lay down, you start rewarding them for lowering their head, then their neck and head, then for putting one foot out, then slightly lowering their body until they are in a down position. Once you get to the final goal your dog will probably have an "ah ha moment."

Again patience plays a huge factor in the learning curve.