Make it a Game

I came across an important message tonight. I believe, all too often, many of us do not keep this in mind. "Life is short. Play with your dog." Often, in dog training, we say "Make it a game." In order to make training fun and engaging for your dog, you need to be able to make it enticing. How ready and willing would YOU be if someone asked you to do something monotonous? Dogs are indeed very much like children and therefore seem to learn wonderfully if we make a game out of a new behavior. There are no harsh corrections or punishments for being wrong. There is no bending the rules or changing criteria. Stick to the rules of the game and play it well! The way I view it is that your criteria, whatever you want your dog to do that will get him the reward, that is the rules he has to play by. Don't play by the rules, you don't get what you want. Making training a game makes everything exciting. Learning becomes fun when we think of it less as work and more as play.

"Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game." -Michael Jordan

In the great words of this basketball player, it's about enjoying life.Training with your dog is not about drilling the dog endlessly. It isn't about working the dog until they get so bored that training becomes something they wish to avoid. If you make a game out of it for your dog, most dogs would be absolutely thrilled for "training" time. I, personally, want to have a relationship with my dogs, in which I pull out the training treats and get ready to teach something new and they're rearing to go. I want each of my dogs itching to have their turn in playing the game with me. When you stop focusing on the details and focus on the fun, learning becomes easy. This of course does not go to say that detail is not important. But, we have to look at things from our dogs' perspectives as well. How do we learn? How does learning become enjoyable to us? The same goes for a dog. Just because they are animals different from us, does not mean they don't enjoy learning in the same way.

A quick and easy example I'd love to add is a problem many people have. Many of us have dogs that jump up to greet us. Why? Simply put, it's normal dog behavior and reinforcing. Whether you praise and pet a dog when they jump or yell at them to "GET DOWN" or, my preferred word "OFF", you are still reinforcing the behavior. Instead, let's come up with a rule. The game is keeping four paws on the floor. If your dog jumps, that's against the rules and you simply turn around and ignore the behavior. Ignoring a behavior is much more effective than counteracting with anger or frustration. The more boring you are, the less entertaining the dog finds you, and his idea of the game "jump up for attention" is no longer fun. But, if we keep all four paws on the floor or even sit, all of a sudden the dog is lavished with attention and given what he wants. He has followed a simple rule of the game and because he did so, he now gets what he so greatly desires. Your attention!

Although the rules may be different for different behaviors, rules can be made and just about anything can be turned into a game. You can use games to work on impulse control, increase drive and excitement, teach your dog to respond to cues quicker and to enjoy being with you and becoming a great pet, sports competitor, or whatever you desire your dog to be.

So, the next time you're wondering why your dog may not be responding to training or may be leaving "work" think of why she is doing so. What is it about this that makes her choose something else over you? Are you not being exciting enough? Is it work or is it play? Make it a game and play with your dog. Because, truly, life is TOO short.