Short-Term Comfort Vs. Long-Term Solution in Dog Training

 

Short-Term Comfort Vs. Long-Term Solution in Dog Training

– Dog Training Solutions in Sydney, Eazy Dog Training

What is the biggest mistake dog owners make when managing and training dogs on a daily basis? In my experience, it’s focusing on short-term comfort instead of long-term solutions. Let me give you a few examples of these situations to better explain my point.

1. A puppy jumps up to get cuddles + The owner wants to cuddle the dog because they are so cute = Puppy learns to jump up on people which the owner later finds inappropriate.
2. A dog doesn’t like being on their own + The owner lets the dog be with them at all times = Separation anxiety is developed.
3. A dog doesn’t like to wear a collar + Owner avoids putting it on and only puts it on for walks = The dog starts to run away from the collar to avoid it in fear of wearing it.
4. A dog loves other dogs and gets very excited to a point that he starts to bark and lunge at other dogs + The owner allowes the dog to socialise while behaving like this = Over-arousal and leash reactivity is developed.

Can you see a pattern here? Just because a dog wants to do something or doesn’t like something doesn’t mean they shouldn’t need to learn to cope with it in a better way. Or just because we want to do something doesn’t mean that it’s good for the dog. Love is not about fulfilling our own emotional needs, it is about putting someone else and their needs first and doing what’s best for them and this is how we should treat our dogs as well.  Focusing on long-term solutions means thinking about the behaviour you are witnessing and asking these questions:

• Is it good for the dog physically and mentally?
• Is it a behaviour I wish to reinforce?
• Is it a behaviour I wish to generalise? (meaning the behaviour is generalised to happen in all situations/environments and with other people/dogs/animals)

Short-term solutions:

• provide help/support for the present moment only, it fulfils an emotional need.
• isn’t helpful for the future.
• isn’t a behaviour you wish to reinforce or generalise.

For all the above examples there’s a better way of handling the situations that will increase the quality of life and happiness of the dog instead of focusing on making them feel good in just one moment. Unfortunately, short-term comfort can create stress and anxiety even though it is the opposite of what is the intention of it. Positive training early on can set our dogs up for success in all aspects of their lives and help with long-term training solutions in a way that improves lives for both the dog and the owner.