Colorado Dog Academy believes the goal of training is to learn how to communicate with your dog in order to be able to control your dog. To accomplish this goal, you must learn the difference between communication skills and language skills. Dogs communicate primarily through body language, rather than verbally. Dogs do not have the ability to understand the meaning of words in the same way that humans can, so we must take the time to teach them to respond to our words. For example: The human can understand that the word sit represents a position to be in, the dog cannot. When the dog learns the word sit, the dog associates the word with a specific behavior (resting on the haunches from a standing position). Since the dog associates the word with a behavior, when the dog is lying down it won’t respond to our sit command instantly because the behavior to sit up from the down is a new behavior and requires additional training. The human understands sit as a position not a behavior and language skills can communicate that, while if the dog understood the meaning of sit, additional training would not be necessary. When it comes to teaching the dog the words, there are basically two methods. The first method is to “show” the dog what the word means. For example: to teach the dog to sit, the hindquarters would be pushed to the floor, physically placing the dog in a sit position. Assuming that the dog understands language, we attempt to define the word by repeating the word after the behavior is completed.The second method of training is to motivate the dog to perform the behavior naturally. For example, to teach the dog to sit you might hold a piece of food over the dog's nose and lure the dog to sit by moving your hand over the dog's head, saying the word sit as the dog performs the behavior. The dog's learning progresses through different stages. In the initial learning stage, the dog requires the luring motion of the food to perform the behavior. As the learning progresses the dog begins to perform the behavior with the word and without the luring motion of the food. The next stage in learning is to teach the dog to perform these behaviors around competing distractions such as other animals, different humans, and loud noises. This is where Colorado Dog Academy excels in instructing you how to accomplish this goal. Most humans assume the relationship with a dog is the same as a human relationship, and we do have some things in common i.e. pack or group tendencies, some emotions, and habitual behaviors. The dog instinctively understands a pecking order within the group. To consistently have control of your dog, you must be above your dog in the pecking order of the group. You then use the training commands on a daily basis in order to establish habitual behaviors that enhance your long-term relationship.
