“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” We’ve all heard the saying, although no one seems to know its origins. The point is valid, though. What you’re doing with 2-Minute Training is teaching your dog to fish.
Giving a man a single fish is certainly fast and effective. It solves the immediate problem. Teaching someone to fish takes a lot longer and requires more effort by both parties. But it’s a forever solution to the problem. When it comes to dog training, you have the additional barrier of communication. You can tell a person how to do something. If they have questions, they’ll ask. It’s less clear with dogs.
Making your choice
A specific example most dog owners can relate to: when somebody enters your home, the dog jumps on them to say “Hello.”
Single fish answer: Every time someone comes over, you grab your dog’s collar and prevent the jumping. Or tell your dog “Off!” every time they jump.
Fishing answer: Teaching your dog a greeting behavior that’s triggered by a knock or the sound of the doorbell.
It takes longer and requires more effort to teach the “fishing” answer. It always will. But once learned, it’s there forever and you won’t have to dread the chaos when the doorbell rings.
Pick your battles
Every dog owner has his/her own rules of the house for the dog. Some people don’t want their dogs on furniture. Others don’t want their dogs sleeping on their beds. We know people who don’t want their dogs to precede them through doorways. Everyone chooses what’s most important to them.
Whatever rules you choose as absolutes for your dog, it’s worth taking the time to transform into a training game. Spend a few minutes to break down the behavior. What are the smallest nuggets you can teach your dog?
For instance
If it’s staying off the couch, think about what happens when your dog jumps up on it now. Does it always happen when you’re already sitting there? Does your dog rock back before jumping up? How can you interrupt the action and turn it into something else?
If you’d like your dog to settle in their own bed instead of up on the couch, make sure that bed is in the dog’s path to the couch. When you see your dog getting ready to jump up, they must step on the dog bed first. Use your “place” game and toss a treat into the dog’s bed.
Your dog, your rules
Focus on teaching your dog rules that matter every day. There are some dogs who resist putting on a collar or harness. That’s something that comes into play all the time. It’s worth breaking that down into small pieces:
- look at the collar (click & treat)
- sniff the collar while you’re holding it (c&t)
- touch the collar (c&t)
- allow the collar to touch their neck (c&t)
- put the collar on (c&t)
Our lives got easier when we taught each of our dogs this simple behavior. They used to get excited and run around like hooligans when we reached for collar and leash. Now they all get excited, run over to us and stay still while we clasp their collars. It’s a small thing but useful many times a day. It was worth it to teach our dogs to fish.
