Ever notice how the dog trainers dog is almost always the most well-behaved dog in the room? Ever wonder why that is? Doesn’t that go against all the old sayings?
The cobblers kids shoes always have holes, the seamstress always wears old clothes, the hair dressers hair always need a cut, the auto mechanics car is always broken down… and so forth. Ever wonder how the dog trainer has managed to get around that and have the well-trained dog? The answer is pretty cool – they train them to be that way! “Laughter”. Yes, I know that was obvious! But how, you might ask, can the dog trainer be so different from almost all the other professions out there? Other professionals can’t seem to get their own stuff done because they are too busy doing the job for clients. Is the dog trainer just not that busy? Again “laughter”, certainly that is not it.
The dog trainer can get away with this odd phenomenon because they have a secret. I can tell you the secret but you have to promise to share it with everyone! The dog trainers secret is that they have learned how to incorporate their training into their everyday life so that it does not require very much additional time to get it done. What? Yep! That’s it! Imagine if you could train your dog without actually using up a lot of extra time doing it. Imagine the possibilities there, training your dog right in there with your regularly scheduled activities! That is what a dog trainer does. Let me give you some examples.
You need to teach a recall (come to me)? Do it at meal time. What dog doesn’t want to come to breakfast? How about calling them because you want to give them a random cookie? How many times do you think you would have to do that before that dog raced to you every time they heard their name. Sit? Who wouldn’t do a quick sit for their dinner? How long do you
think it would take them to figure out that the quicker they sit, the quicker the meal is delivered. The Wait? Try only allowing access to the play yard once the dog patiently waits. They figure that self control thing out really quick.
Granted some things do actually take a little effort, like loose leash walking will require a couple laps around the kitchen island, and eventually some actual outings but I think we are getting the idea of how dog trainers, with limited time, are getting the job done. Their dogs are probably not as trained as they would like if they had some extra time, but they are certainly well-trained enough to make a great presentation to you!
Give yourself a break with that busy schedule and try to figure out where you can slip in some good quick training with your canine companion. You will be happy that you did! And those babies will certainly appreciate the attention.
