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BONDING - BONDING - BONDING: Ultimately one of the most misunderstood
terms in the dog world. A day does not go by that someone does not ask for a six or
eight week old pup, because they were told if they do not start young the dog will not
bond. Then there are those folks who had a bad experience with their last dog
"bonding," and they are sure it was taken from its mother too young, now they are
looking for an older dog. Then, of course, the more typical statement: their last dog
was older and it took months to bond or the caller felt the dog never really accepted
the family. Well the fact is that bonding is just a state of mind.
Find a dog seeking a close relationship with humans and humans who are seeking a
close relationship with a dog and like-magic BONDING occurs. If you question this,
consider the seeing eye dog. It is raised in one situation and trained in another
before it is turned over to its new master.
LET THE PUP HAVE A CHILDHOOD: Another of those strange 'facts.' Being
a child to a dog is chewing everything, jumping on everyone, an hour by hour life of
trouble. We cringe when we read that one should wait until a dog is six to nine
months of age before setting up a program, or that the local trainer told an owner of
a protection breed that setting rules too early will damage its natural protection
capabilities. Then there is the dog training club that will not let your dog join until it is
at least six months of age. Apparently these individuals have never known the joys of
working with a great Aussie. Remember the following: Educating before the bad
habits develop is TRAINING, after the fact it is just a series of REPRIMANDS.
THERE ARE NO BAD DOGS ONLY BAD OWNERS: This has a yes and no
answer, and a common thread that we see on the Internet is in defense of the dogs
who are problems. In actuality an irresponsible owner is the down fall of a good dog
no matter what the breed, but the best owner cannot create a superstar if the dog's
God-given abilities are not equal to owner expectation.
A DOG WILL ONLY WORK FOR THE TRAINER: This may be true in most
situations but not when the dog was introduced to training as a form of
communication rather than an act of discipline. The difference here is that we
convince our Aussies that obedience workouts are fun. It is quality time between two
friends.
A simple example is the command of sit. It is much more complicated to teach sit than
to ask a trained dog to sit. An excellent analogy is teaching the deaf to pronounce a
word that they cannot hear. To the new canine student, who may have just learned
its name (a feat in itself), what they hear coming from our mouths is just gibberish,
more confusing than even our trying to understand a foreign language since we at
least understand what is going on around us. So in answer to the question, can one
person train a dog for another?
CAN YOU SAY "SIT?"
terms in the dog world. A day does not go by that someone does not ask for a six or
eight week old pup, because they were told if they do not start young the dog will not
bond. Then there are those folks who had a bad experience with their last dog
"bonding," and they are sure it was taken from its mother too young, now they are
looking for an older dog. Then, of course, the more typical statement: their last dog
was older and it took months to bond or the caller felt the dog never really accepted
the family. Well the fact is that bonding is just a state of mind.
Find a dog seeking a close relationship with humans and humans who are seeking a
close relationship with a dog and like-magic BONDING occurs. If you question this,
consider the seeing eye dog. It is raised in one situation and trained in another
before it is turned over to its new master.
LET THE PUP HAVE A CHILDHOOD: Another of those strange 'facts.' Being
a child to a dog is chewing everything, jumping on everyone, an hour by hour life of
trouble. We cringe when we read that one should wait until a dog is six to nine
months of age before setting up a program, or that the local trainer told an owner of
a protection breed that setting rules too early will damage its natural protection
capabilities. Then there is the dog training club that will not let your dog join until it is
at least six months of age. Apparently these individuals have never known the joys of
working with a great Aussie. Remember the following: Educating before the bad
habits develop is TRAINING, after the fact it is just a series of REPRIMANDS.
THERE ARE NO BAD DOGS ONLY BAD OWNERS: This has a yes and no
answer, and a common thread that we see on the Internet is in defense of the dogs
who are problems. In actuality an irresponsible owner is the down fall of a good dog
no matter what the breed, but the best owner cannot create a superstar if the dog's
God-given abilities are not equal to owner expectation.
A DOG WILL ONLY WORK FOR THE TRAINER: This may be true in most
situations but not when the dog was introduced to training as a form of
communication rather than an act of discipline. The difference here is that we
convince our Aussies that obedience workouts are fun. It is quality time between two
friends.
A simple example is the command of sit. It is much more complicated to teach sit than
to ask a trained dog to sit. An excellent analogy is teaching the deaf to pronounce a
word that they cannot hear. To the new canine student, who may have just learned
its name (a feat in itself), what they hear coming from our mouths is just gibberish,
more confusing than even our trying to understand a foreign language since we at
least understand what is going on around us. So in answer to the question, can one
person train a dog for another?
CAN YOU SAY "SIT?"
| True or False! |