Be Prepared
If this conjures up thoughts of a very popular song from the original Lion King movie – then so be it 😅
It doesn’t matter if you’re training puppies to stop mouthing or setting up controlled scenarios to help practice something (ie: barking at the door or keeping calm for reactive dogs) if your not prepared, your dog is less likely to succeed at every given opportunity.
I NEVER leave the house without at least some treats in my pockets – even when I’m not training, I am prepared to train if the need should arise. My dogs, for example have been learning to settle at cafes at least twice a week, as well as learning to settle in our new campervan. At 5 and 10 years old they still need reminders of what’s expected and practicing regularly is the best way to do this. They may need help in the form of food reward to keep them motivated and keeping their attentions , especially if said cafe gets quite loud and full of people – our dogs can do this well usually, because they’ve practiced a lot previously, but I can’t assume they will be perfect on the day, so I bring things I know will help them concentrate and mitigate against distractions. multiple greetings from people , constant movement of people backward and forward , food and drink coming and going – it’s a lot but that’s why we are here right? 😅-
These things used to be an issue for Ollie (settling with distractions) he thought all food was for him and would bark until someone gave him something, he has since practiced A LOT and knows that EVENTUALLY he gets something if he waits it out – the only time he might bark is if he needs to go out for a wee so I don’t really want to extinguish ALL barking ALL OF THE TIME, it is sometimes a good thing but it would be dog specific 👍
I digress….. that happens here…… now imagine that I didn’t take any treats or poo bags and didn’t bring a mat for my lurcher to chill out on (he has bad arthritis these days) the visits would not be as relaxed or as well planned as they could be. Scout would constantly figet because he was uncomfortable -leading to him excessively using his arthritic knee more than he should and Ollie would get very frustrated with me very quickly because after waiting a long time for his reward (we’ve worked on duration and delayed rewards) he would stop offering this waiting behaviour and most likely start his frustrated barking in public again – it’s not really worth the hassle and all of this can be avoided by simply was being a little bit prepared with a sensible lead some treats in my pocket and piece of vet bed for Scout – it is the difference between a chilled out lunch on a Sunday afternoon and having to rush and get a quick takeaway coffee and a walk in the rain because they won’t settle 😅😅
By simply being more prepared you are both setting yourselves up for success. Success that you can train your dog efficiently (hands free with a Halti lead around your waist means your hands are free to deposit a treat or you reward at the exact right time – because timing is everything😉) or having treats or a toy stashed systematically at points (I’d advise you out these out of reach from your dog 😅) so that when you come through the door you are ready with a toy for your frustrated greeters or if you want to practice alone time you prep pre-made toys and frozen kong enrichment toys, for example, all ready to just take out of the fridge when you need to leave and place in a crate or safe space for your pup or dog.
Another example from my dogs perspective is that just before I leave everyday for work , to settle them down BEFORE I leave I make sure they have a small kong with peanut butter or a Whimzees chew toy so that the chewing licking and sniffing actions of using these toys is medicine of a calm and more chilled out dog before I leave – we do it so often that they waiting just after I put on my shoes and put on my walking belt. Now if I didn’t prep that they wouldn’t be sufficiently calm before I left the house . I’ve don’t this a lot too – if I rush out of the door because I’ve missed the post man or I have to pop out to the car – this unprepared rush is different and unrehearsed and the dogs will definitely bark and be up at the window because of it BUT if I RESET them and I give them the chews and toy 10 minutes later I put on my shoes and bag and leave calmly they won’t bark and won’t jump up at the window because we are rehearsing the calm exit strategy that they have done lots of times before and can settle a lot quicker 😅
So it sounds likes a stupidly simple piece of advice but if you want to succeed with your dogs training goals it’s the most important one of all. If you’re prepared you’re more likely to train than if you were unprepared and that means more practice and more repetitions of any desirable behaviours and that’s what successful dog training is all about.
Sara @ About Town Pets 🐶
Ps : if you liked this article you may also like my previous blog post With Tips & Advice For Training Tennage Dogs – Here 🐕
Or you may also want to check out my most popular blog article about 8 Enrichment Ideas For Your Dog 🥎
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