The basics

"I don't need my dog to do fancy stuff." "I don't care if they know obedience." "We want her to be happy, to do whatever she wants." Believe me; I've probably heard just about all the excuses. When I go to someone's house for an obedience session we sit down and I ask "what do you want from your dog?" We discuss specifics; things that they don't care about, things that they really care about and then the things that they hadn't thought of. There truly is no reason not to train a dog; they do much better when they know what is expected of them.

A dog that has never had any training; no guidance once so ever has a difficult time maneuvering through our world without incident.   It is funny how some people are offended by the idea of us telling dogs what to do; when in actuality a dog with no guidance truly is at a disadvantage in our human world.  So as much as you may think that your dog doesn’t need training; all dogs deserve an education.   A little help to make their life in a human world a smooth one.

“The basics” is a common phrase in training; but what does “the basics,” really mean.  In my training “the basics” includes a few extremely important behaviors, rules, regulations and manners.  The basics includes, name training, house training, sit, down, stay, not bolting out of an open door, walking nicely on a leash, not eating food off the counter, not destroying things that do not belong to you and coming when you are called.  This may seem like a lot but it is really what every dog should know “the basics.” 

Of course as a dog trainer I love “beyond the basics” stuff.  The sky is the limit when educating a canine; they are so smart it can be tough to think things up to teach them.  With my basic training I always include a trick; a trick can be the doorway to more training especially with children.  Funny, trick training and regular training are the same thing to a dog but not to us.  For us a dog sitting or lying down is nothing; but shake a paw and wow, that’s cool.  The fact is that it is just as easy for a dog to learn to shake as the sit and down, maybe easier. 

All dogs deserve an education; have you given your dog his fair share?