Bryan Bailey's Blog
September 17, 2015
Trust or Acceptance?
Ranger, my seven-year-old male Alaskan sled dog, is lying on the frozen ground chewing a stick when Scarlett, a new twelve-week-old female pup, cautiously noses up to Ranger to investigate what he is chewing. Her inquiry is met immediately with a hard, deliberate stare that is accompanied by a low menacing growl. Like an echo from a distant time when all aggression was sparked by competition for survival, Ranger’s growl leaves no doubt as to the outcome if Scarlett fails to heed his warning.
Perhaps Scarlett has been deficiently socialized to powerful dominant males such as Ranger, or perhaps, up until this moment in life, she has always taken what she has wanted but, whatever the reason, she fails to retreat in the speed and manner required to avoid an attack. With an imperceptible speed, Ranger springs up and snatches Scarlett by the throat and pins her to the ground. Suddenly, finding herself the replacement for the stick in Ranger’s mouth, Scarlett flails and howls with every ounce of strength that her twelve weeks of life could bring to bear, but escape is not possible.
“If I do not wish to share, I won’t!” is the lesson and the teacher is a domestic wolf named Ranger. Drawing from a lesson plan created millions of years ago by nature for the use of social predators, Ranger indoctrinates Scarlett on the way of his kind, the wolf, where dominance prevails and submission yields. The crushing force of his teeth on her neck does not crush her. His formidable jaw cuts off her air, but he does not suffocate her. Ranger holds Scarlett firmly, pinned on her back, until she relinquishes her fight and becomes still. “I am Ranger and to you, young one, my will is law. Yield to me.” All said through the eyes of the unconquerable wolf that reigns in the heart of Ranger and in all domestic dogs. Then he releases her.
The above passage is an excerpt from my soon to be released book, Embracing the Wild in Your Dog, and it Embracing the Wild in your Dog_Frontspeaks of the development of one of the most important elements in your dog’s life, acceptance.
When wolf cubs reach the age of approximately five weeks, they are pushed by their mother out of the den they have occupied since birth. The time of suckling and sleeping in the safety and comfort of the warm earth is over and the time of learning to survive in the extremely hostile and competitive world of the social predator is just beginning.
As the cubs emerge from the den, eyes squinting from the sudden light of the sun, they encounter the most frightening creature they have ever laid eyes on. Standing tall and statue still above them is their father, the Alpha male. He does not move a muscle as his cubs slink and whimper under him. Even in these first moments in his presence, the cubs sense his dominance and press themselves as close to the ground as they can.
The Alpha male watches their display of submission but, after a few minutes, the cub’s lose their inhibition and begin to jump and bite at his legs. Suddenly, like Scarlett, the cubs are pinned to the ground, one at a time, by the Alpha male. The crushing force of his teeth do not crush them. His formidable jaw cuts off their air but, he does not suffocate them. They flail and howl and squirm for all they’re worth but, he holds them firmly, pinned on their backs, until they relinquish their fight and become still. To each cub he says, “ Feel my power. Know I could kill you but, I won’t. I may kill on your behalf but, I will never harm you. I do this because I accept you. This is the way of our kind. You will always submit to me as do the others. I am the Alpha wolf, my will is law.” After releasing the final cub, the Alpha male gathers them around him and feeds them by regurgitating part of his recent kill.
In their first few minutes outside the den, the cubs have already been taught the most important lessons of their lives. They are taught that they are now part of something bigger than themselves. They are taught that equality serves no useful purpose for social predators and that there is a linear hierarchical system in place where the Alpha male rules supreme. They are taught how to control their power and to not harm each other in the course of disciplining one another. They are taught that protecting and feeding the young is essential for the continued survival of all. Lastly, and most importantly, they are taught to trust the guidance and the leadership of the one who just pinned them to the ground.
Recently, I have encountered a few clients that were hesitant to begin their young pup’s training because of the advice they had received from a particular professional in the pet industry. This individual claimed that starting obedience training before the age of six months would result in the client’s dog not trusting them in the future because the stress related to training would “break their spirit”and lead to a harmonic discord.
Unfortunately, as I write in my book in a chapter titled, Know the Parts, the vast majority of professional dog trainers and veterinarians in America have never spent one second in the wild observing wolves. Therefore, all of their knowledge and advice about canine behavior comes from hand me down tutoring where it is the blind leading the blind, or the incorrect conceptual knowledge they are able to glean from books and the internet. They lack the all important experiential knowledge. Had this individual ever observed wolf behavior in the wild, he would have realized the error of his advice and would have known that acceptance is more important to wolves and dogs than the very food they eat. This acceptance creates permanent trust and it is only obtained when the young dog or wolf is subjected to the rule of a powerful leader. Such power convinces the pup or cub that the Alpha wolf is capable of protecting and providing for them and their acceptance by him will give them a better chance of survival than with a wolf that is passive and weak.
Proper training establishes leadership. When this leadership teaches and doesn’t harm, our pups, who are domestic wolves, feel they are accepted. With this acceptance comes the trust that we seek from our dogs.
My book, Embracing the Wild in Your Dog, will be released in October. It is not an obedience training book. Rather, it is about developing a deep understanding of the authors of your dog’s behavior, nature and the wolf. By knowing the wolf in your dog, you will come to better understand its behavior and not fall prey to the recommendations of those that don’t.
Trust or Acceptance? They’re one and the same and created the same way.
Perhaps Scarlett has been deficiently socialized to powerful dominant males such as Ranger, or perhaps, up until this moment in life, she has always taken what she has wanted but, whatever the reason, she fails to retreat in the speed and manner required to avoid an attack. With an imperceptible speed, Ranger springs up and snatches Scarlett by the throat and pins her to the ground. Suddenly, finding herself the replacement for the stick in Ranger’s mouth, Scarlett flails and howls with every ounce of strength that her twelve weeks of life could bring to bear, but escape is not possible.
“If I do not wish to share, I won’t!” is the lesson and the teacher is a domestic wolf named Ranger. Drawing from a lesson plan created millions of years ago by nature for the use of social predators, Ranger indoctrinates Scarlett on the way of his kind, the wolf, where dominance prevails and submission yields. The crushing force of his teeth on her neck does not crush her. His formidable jaw cuts off her air, but he does not suffocate her. Ranger holds Scarlett firmly, pinned on her back, until she relinquishes her fight and becomes still. “I am Ranger and to you, young one, my will is law. Yield to me.” All said through the eyes of the unconquerable wolf that reigns in the heart of Ranger and in all domestic dogs. Then he releases her.
The above passage is an excerpt from my soon to be released book, Embracing the Wild in Your Dog, and it Embracing the Wild in your Dog_Frontspeaks of the development of one of the most important elements in your dog’s life, acceptance.
When wolf cubs reach the age of approximately five weeks, they are pushed by their mother out of the den they have occupied since birth. The time of suckling and sleeping in the safety and comfort of the warm earth is over and the time of learning to survive in the extremely hostile and competitive world of the social predator is just beginning.
As the cubs emerge from the den, eyes squinting from the sudden light of the sun, they encounter the most frightening creature they have ever laid eyes on. Standing tall and statue still above them is their father, the Alpha male. He does not move a muscle as his cubs slink and whimper under him. Even in these first moments in his presence, the cubs sense his dominance and press themselves as close to the ground as they can.
The Alpha male watches their display of submission but, after a few minutes, the cub’s lose their inhibition and begin to jump and bite at his legs. Suddenly, like Scarlett, the cubs are pinned to the ground, one at a time, by the Alpha male. The crushing force of his teeth do not crush them. His formidable jaw cuts off their air but, he does not suffocate them. They flail and howl and squirm for all they’re worth but, he holds them firmly, pinned on their backs, until they relinquish their fight and become still. To each cub he says, “ Feel my power. Know I could kill you but, I won’t. I may kill on your behalf but, I will never harm you. I do this because I accept you. This is the way of our kind. You will always submit to me as do the others. I am the Alpha wolf, my will is law.” After releasing the final cub, the Alpha male gathers them around him and feeds them by regurgitating part of his recent kill.
In their first few minutes outside the den, the cubs have already been taught the most important lessons of their lives. They are taught that they are now part of something bigger than themselves. They are taught that equality serves no useful purpose for social predators and that there is a linear hierarchical system in place where the Alpha male rules supreme. They are taught how to control their power and to not harm each other in the course of disciplining one another. They are taught that protecting and feeding the young is essential for the continued survival of all. Lastly, and most importantly, they are taught to trust the guidance and the leadership of the one who just pinned them to the ground.
Recently, I have encountered a few clients that were hesitant to begin their young pup’s training because of the advice they had received from a particular professional in the pet industry. This individual claimed that starting obedience training before the age of six months would result in the client’s dog not trusting them in the future because the stress related to training would “break their spirit”and lead to a harmonic discord.
Unfortunately, as I write in my book in a chapter titled, Know the Parts, the vast majority of professional dog trainers and veterinarians in America have never spent one second in the wild observing wolves. Therefore, all of their knowledge and advice about canine behavior comes from hand me down tutoring where it is the blind leading the blind, or the incorrect conceptual knowledge they are able to glean from books and the internet. They lack the all important experiential knowledge. Had this individual ever observed wolf behavior in the wild, he would have realized the error of his advice and would have known that acceptance is more important to wolves and dogs than the very food they eat. This acceptance creates permanent trust and it is only obtained when the young dog or wolf is subjected to the rule of a powerful leader. Such power convinces the pup or cub that the Alpha wolf is capable of protecting and providing for them and their acceptance by him will give them a better chance of survival than with a wolf that is passive and weak.
Proper training establishes leadership. When this leadership teaches and doesn’t harm, our pups, who are domestic wolves, feel they are accepted. With this acceptance comes the trust that we seek from our dogs.
My book, Embracing the Wild in Your Dog, will be released in October. It is not an obedience training book. Rather, it is about developing a deep understanding of the authors of your dog’s behavior, nature and the wolf. By knowing the wolf in your dog, you will come to better understand its behavior and not fall prey to the recommendations of those that don’t.
Trust or Acceptance? They’re one and the same and created the same way.
Neck to Neck
There are many stumbling blocks the average dog owner encounters on their way to achieving a manageable and peaceful coexistence with their dogs. Limitations in time, money, physical capabilities and proper knowledge of the dog itself, are just a few. Add the latter to the belief that most Americans hold their dogs to near human standards (anthropomorphism: infusing a human persona into your dog) and it’s no wonder that manageable and peaceful coexistence can be very elusive.
One of the major issues I have had to address consistently for years with many of my clients, is the ever persistent comparison of the human neck to that of the domestic dog and how the use of training collars for achieving control can cause great harm to their dog. During the first 5-10 minutes of my initial meeting with these clients, I am provided with important subject matter for my lesson as I witness the client’s dog pulling them from one end of my large training room to the other, all the while, wearing head gear or the latest fad in training harnesses. After a few minutes of ridiculous dragging by the dog and a few hundred pleas by the frustrated owner to make the dog stop, I give grace and allow the owner to let go of the leash. While they rub their hands and fight for composure, I ask, “Why the head gear or harness?” Although I already know the answer, I always hold out for a new one other than the typical, “according to the internet, collars cause collapsed tracheas,” or, “the positive only dog training book said they are inhumane”, or lastly, “I did put one on but he kept choking himself when he pulled me!”
In addressing the answers typically given to my question, let’s begin by making a brief anatomical comparison of the human neck to the domestic dog neck. Like your neck, your dog’s neck is comprised of a trachea, a larynx, an esophagus and an epiglottis, and all of these function is much the same way as yours. However, that’s about where the similarities end.
Unlike your neck, your dog’s neck is extremely powerful. From its ancestor, the gray wolf, the dog inherited powerful muscles in its neck that are still capable of supporting both sprinting and endurance, and for dragging to the ground large ungulates, that can easily weigh hundreds of pounds. Ligaments attached to major neck muscles assist your dog in opening it’s mouth very wide for grasping and capturing, then tearing and shredding. Play tug-o-war with your dog and you will feel the incredible thrashing and torquing power in its neck. Other ligaments connect the spinous process of the first thoracic vertebrae to the back of the axis bone (second cervical or neck bone), which supports the weight of the head without active muscle exertion, thus allowing for energy conservation. Trauma to a dog’s trachea from manipulation of a training collar is so remote, that in 30 years of training over 100,000 dogs all over the world, to include 12 years of owning a veterinary hospital staffed with extremely confident veterinarians, I have never heard of it.
In fact, it is so rare, it has prompted U.C. Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine to declare: “the canine neck contains many powerful and well-developed muscles. Because the trachea is surrounded by these muscles, it is usually shielded from trauma. For example, when a dog on a leash running at full speed toward another dog or person is brought up short by the leash, it rarely suffers any significant damage to its neck or underlying structures.” In short, the neck of a canine is the BIG muscle connected to the BIG teeth that connect to the BIG animal that becomes life sustaining energy. Sure, your dog may no longer be a wolf, but it’s neck is still built like one and has the ability to withstand proper leash corrections to its neck.
As to the complaint that the use of training collars are inhumane, that complaint is not one dimensional and could easily be attached to any interaction with a dog. A dog could certainly be abused wearing head gear or a harness. The ability to be inhumane to a dog, unfortunately, has no limits. However, to label the use of a particular type of equipment as inhumane, speaks loudly of the ignorance, inflexibility and selfishness of the one purporting it. If the best interest of your client and their dog is a professional dog trainer’s priority, then an attitude of open mindedness is the only attitude to have.
That being said, how does this knowledge of the canine neck anatomy assist you in gaining control of your dog? Hopefully, it will, as a minimum, alleviate any fear you have of exploring a training methodology that uses a collar, in addition to a proper skill set, to achieve desirable behavior from your dog. Depending upon your circumstances, this may be a better approach than your previous training experience. If your personal experience with head gear or harnesses has left you not wanting to ever walk your dog again, give it a try.
While doing so, please keep in mind, dog training is a very emotional and competitive business. I could easily write an entire book debating the different methodologies employed by professional dog trainers in this country and which are best. That is not the purpose of this blog. Rather, its purpose is simply to lay bare the facts and expose the myths surrounding the anatomy of your dog’s neck and why the use of a training collar, if used properly, will not harm your dog and possibly lead you to that state of dog ownership that we all covet; manageability and peace.
One of the major issues I have had to address consistently for years with many of my clients, is the ever persistent comparison of the human neck to that of the domestic dog and how the use of training collars for achieving control can cause great harm to their dog. During the first 5-10 minutes of my initial meeting with these clients, I am provided with important subject matter for my lesson as I witness the client’s dog pulling them from one end of my large training room to the other, all the while, wearing head gear or the latest fad in training harnesses. After a few minutes of ridiculous dragging by the dog and a few hundred pleas by the frustrated owner to make the dog stop, I give grace and allow the owner to let go of the leash. While they rub their hands and fight for composure, I ask, “Why the head gear or harness?” Although I already know the answer, I always hold out for a new one other than the typical, “according to the internet, collars cause collapsed tracheas,” or, “the positive only dog training book said they are inhumane”, or lastly, “I did put one on but he kept choking himself when he pulled me!”
In addressing the answers typically given to my question, let’s begin by making a brief anatomical comparison of the human neck to the domestic dog neck. Like your neck, your dog’s neck is comprised of a trachea, a larynx, an esophagus and an epiglottis, and all of these function is much the same way as yours. However, that’s about where the similarities end.
Unlike your neck, your dog’s neck is extremely powerful. From its ancestor, the gray wolf, the dog inherited powerful muscles in its neck that are still capable of supporting both sprinting and endurance, and for dragging to the ground large ungulates, that can easily weigh hundreds of pounds. Ligaments attached to major neck muscles assist your dog in opening it’s mouth very wide for grasping and capturing, then tearing and shredding. Play tug-o-war with your dog and you will feel the incredible thrashing and torquing power in its neck. Other ligaments connect the spinous process of the first thoracic vertebrae to the back of the axis bone (second cervical or neck bone), which supports the weight of the head without active muscle exertion, thus allowing for energy conservation. Trauma to a dog’s trachea from manipulation of a training collar is so remote, that in 30 years of training over 100,000 dogs all over the world, to include 12 years of owning a veterinary hospital staffed with extremely confident veterinarians, I have never heard of it.
In fact, it is so rare, it has prompted U.C. Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine to declare: “the canine neck contains many powerful and well-developed muscles. Because the trachea is surrounded by these muscles, it is usually shielded from trauma. For example, when a dog on a leash running at full speed toward another dog or person is brought up short by the leash, it rarely suffers any significant damage to its neck or underlying structures.” In short, the neck of a canine is the BIG muscle connected to the BIG teeth that connect to the BIG animal that becomes life sustaining energy. Sure, your dog may no longer be a wolf, but it’s neck is still built like one and has the ability to withstand proper leash corrections to its neck.
As to the complaint that the use of training collars are inhumane, that complaint is not one dimensional and could easily be attached to any interaction with a dog. A dog could certainly be abused wearing head gear or a harness. The ability to be inhumane to a dog, unfortunately, has no limits. However, to label the use of a particular type of equipment as inhumane, speaks loudly of the ignorance, inflexibility and selfishness of the one purporting it. If the best interest of your client and their dog is a professional dog trainer’s priority, then an attitude of open mindedness is the only attitude to have.
That being said, how does this knowledge of the canine neck anatomy assist you in gaining control of your dog? Hopefully, it will, as a minimum, alleviate any fear you have of exploring a training methodology that uses a collar, in addition to a proper skill set, to achieve desirable behavior from your dog. Depending upon your circumstances, this may be a better approach than your previous training experience. If your personal experience with head gear or harnesses has left you not wanting to ever walk your dog again, give it a try.
While doing so, please keep in mind, dog training is a very emotional and competitive business. I could easily write an entire book debating the different methodologies employed by professional dog trainers in this country and which are best. That is not the purpose of this blog. Rather, its purpose is simply to lay bare the facts and expose the myths surrounding the anatomy of your dog’s neck and why the use of a training collar, if used properly, will not harm your dog and possibly lead you to that state of dog ownership that we all covet; manageability and peace.
Patience
Patience is a virtue long lost to the average American. In an era which everything we want to know can be gained as fast as we can type a few letters in a search bar and hit enter or delivered to us within two days if we are a member of Amazon Prime, why do we need it? Today, it’s all about speed; faster internet speeds, faster checkouts in real stores, faster deliveries from online stores, faster weight loss, faster educations, faster highway speeds, faster, faster, faster….. That’s it, the faster, the better and the list of things that need to go faster keeps growing.
Unfortunately, one of the things that’s been added to the list is dog training. We want our “best friend” to be on his “best behavior” and we want it pronto! We want to speed through the pain of puppyhood and create a no biting, no jumping, no going potty in the house, no chewing on my stuff and no waking me up in the middle of the night great dog and is asking for it to be done in less than two weeks unreasonable? Hope not, because in less than a month, we want him to also be sitting, lying down, walking with us, staying where he’s put and coming to us when called and we want it all to be done “OFF LEASH!” That’s right, skip the leash, it’s too much of a hassle to hold onto while texting! Certainly this can’t be too much to ask. After all, professional dog trainers everywhere are guaranteeing they can train our dogs to do so and sadly, because we’ve become addicted to speed, we want to believe them and we sign our dogs up for one of their misguided programs faster than we can select the “add to cart” button.
Life comes at a wolf cub hard and fast. They don’t ask for this speed or for things to be so hard, but they’re both there, nevertheless, because that’s the way of things as a social predator in the wild. Merciless winters, predation by humans and the ever present competition of pack members or alien wolves for territorial rights and access to limited food sources creates a fast survival learning curve. Even so, wolf cubs are sheltered from many of the “hard and fast” parts of life by the adult pack members who feed them, protect them and tutor them until they are old enough to able to do so for themselves which is usually about 1 year of age. These adult wolves are patient and endure the pain of feeding, protecting and teaching the young for their first year because they instinctually know that the cubs are only able to retain so much input during specific developmental periods. Mistakes made in the wild often lead to death, so teaching is slowed just enough to allow the cubs time to develop the needed knowledge and skill set that will keep them alive and as a productive member of the pack.
Life doesn’t come so hard and fast for our dogs, which are domestic wolves. There is no need for them to be self sustaining at 9-12 months of age because we protect them, feed them, shelter them from the elements and provide for them a safe territory to dwell in. The only knowledge and skill set necessary is what is needed for them to conform to our human existence which is far less and far less dangerous and stressful than that of their wild ancestors. Over the course of thousands of years, our beneficence has increased the lifespan of our dogs and subsequently, it has prolonged the early developmental periods in comparison to a wolf who ages physically, emotionally and developmentally at a rate of twice that of our dogs.
Is it possible to train a dog to perform a set of cues “OFF LEASH” before the age of 1 year? Yes, it is possible, but is it sustainable and at what cost? Competing motivators such as other people, other dogs, squirrels, cats, bicycles, etc. may not be much competition when your “OFF LEASH” trained dog is 6 months of age, but they certainly can be at 2 years of age! Enough so, that your “come when called OFF LEASH” command could fail you just when your dog, who used to not care about squirrels, sees one on the other side of a busy road and must have it! Is this not the same with our children? I remember when my son was 7, he didn’t give even so much as a glance in a girl’s direction. However, when he turned 17, I had to threaten him with life long grounding to keep him away from them long enough to concentrate on his school work which, by the way, he was very gifted in. So much so, he could have easily entered college almost 2 years early, but because he was not emotionally ready for the sudden and drastic changes that life as a college student incurs, he was kept in high school where his maturity was allowed to develop at the proper pace.
Is this not what we wish for our young dogs or will our impatience force them to undergo the sudden and drastic changes and the accompanying stressors that “college level” work such as “OFF LEASH” requires when they are only developmentally ready for elementary school (ON LEASH)? Wolves develop twice as fast as our dogs, but they are not required to undergo “college level” training until they are almost a year old. Why? Because patience is a virtue not lost to adult wolves. Nature, the master teacher, taught them thousands of years ago that speed, in this case, kills.
In summary, domestic dogs are not ready for “OFF LEASH” training until they are well over 1 year of age. Even if it is accomplished at an earlier age, it will not remain reliable for the next few years of development and the stress incurred from the rigors of the training at an inappropriate developmental period will have a lasting, detrimental effect on the spirit and vitality of the dog. Take your cue from nature and take dog training off your speed list.
In the case of your young dog, patience is not just a virtue, it’s being responsible.
Unfortunately, one of the things that’s been added to the list is dog training. We want our “best friend” to be on his “best behavior” and we want it pronto! We want to speed through the pain of puppyhood and create a no biting, no jumping, no going potty in the house, no chewing on my stuff and no waking me up in the middle of the night great dog and is asking for it to be done in less than two weeks unreasonable? Hope not, because in less than a month, we want him to also be sitting, lying down, walking with us, staying where he’s put and coming to us when called and we want it all to be done “OFF LEASH!” That’s right, skip the leash, it’s too much of a hassle to hold onto while texting! Certainly this can’t be too much to ask. After all, professional dog trainers everywhere are guaranteeing they can train our dogs to do so and sadly, because we’ve become addicted to speed, we want to believe them and we sign our dogs up for one of their misguided programs faster than we can select the “add to cart” button.
Life comes at a wolf cub hard and fast. They don’t ask for this speed or for things to be so hard, but they’re both there, nevertheless, because that’s the way of things as a social predator in the wild. Merciless winters, predation by humans and the ever present competition of pack members or alien wolves for territorial rights and access to limited food sources creates a fast survival learning curve. Even so, wolf cubs are sheltered from many of the “hard and fast” parts of life by the adult pack members who feed them, protect them and tutor them until they are old enough to able to do so for themselves which is usually about 1 year of age. These adult wolves are patient and endure the pain of feeding, protecting and teaching the young for their first year because they instinctually know that the cubs are only able to retain so much input during specific developmental periods. Mistakes made in the wild often lead to death, so teaching is slowed just enough to allow the cubs time to develop the needed knowledge and skill set that will keep them alive and as a productive member of the pack.
Life doesn’t come so hard and fast for our dogs, which are domestic wolves. There is no need for them to be self sustaining at 9-12 months of age because we protect them, feed them, shelter them from the elements and provide for them a safe territory to dwell in. The only knowledge and skill set necessary is what is needed for them to conform to our human existence which is far less and far less dangerous and stressful than that of their wild ancestors. Over the course of thousands of years, our beneficence has increased the lifespan of our dogs and subsequently, it has prolonged the early developmental periods in comparison to a wolf who ages physically, emotionally and developmentally at a rate of twice that of our dogs.
Is it possible to train a dog to perform a set of cues “OFF LEASH” before the age of 1 year? Yes, it is possible, but is it sustainable and at what cost? Competing motivators such as other people, other dogs, squirrels, cats, bicycles, etc. may not be much competition when your “OFF LEASH” trained dog is 6 months of age, but they certainly can be at 2 years of age! Enough so, that your “come when called OFF LEASH” command could fail you just when your dog, who used to not care about squirrels, sees one on the other side of a busy road and must have it! Is this not the same with our children? I remember when my son was 7, he didn’t give even so much as a glance in a girl’s direction. However, when he turned 17, I had to threaten him with life long grounding to keep him away from them long enough to concentrate on his school work which, by the way, he was very gifted in. So much so, he could have easily entered college almost 2 years early, but because he was not emotionally ready for the sudden and drastic changes that life as a college student incurs, he was kept in high school where his maturity was allowed to develop at the proper pace.
Is this not what we wish for our young dogs or will our impatience force them to undergo the sudden and drastic changes and the accompanying stressors that “college level” work such as “OFF LEASH” requires when they are only developmentally ready for elementary school (ON LEASH)? Wolves develop twice as fast as our dogs, but they are not required to undergo “college level” training until they are almost a year old. Why? Because patience is a virtue not lost to adult wolves. Nature, the master teacher, taught them thousands of years ago that speed, in this case, kills.
In summary, domestic dogs are not ready for “OFF LEASH” training until they are well over 1 year of age. Even if it is accomplished at an earlier age, it will not remain reliable for the next few years of development and the stress incurred from the rigors of the training at an inappropriate developmental period will have a lasting, detrimental effect on the spirit and vitality of the dog. Take your cue from nature and take dog training off your speed list.
In the case of your young dog, patience is not just a virtue, it’s being responsible.
