Mindset

I started this post two months ago and have been thinking about this A LOT!!! 

Mindset: it affects everything we do, including how we train our dogs. How we perceive, regard others and approach life, is our attitude and belief system at work. Do unto others and golden rule and all that, or not. 

With a move to a new area, I find myself re-evaluating my core beliefs in many ways, and for the purposes of this blog-in training dogs. In some ways I feel like I have stepped back in time, watching how some people are so harsh and corrective with their dogs, and shock collars-OI!!!! Some of whom were barely born when Clicker Training and R+ became the advent and light for cognitive and kind training for dogs. This reverse mindset has caught me off-guard. I see so much stress and avoidance in some dogs, while the human half seems oblivious. Two steps forward and ten back, for the dogs. We can all do better!

I don't claim to be purely positive and definitely not a push-over, in what I allow my dogs to "do" in daily life. All behavior has a reward and a consequence. My dogs are far from perfect, but we are a team. I do not think that talking about having "Come to Jesus" moments with your dog is cool or necessary-that tells me more about a person and them as a trainer, than I really want to know. But, being in a new area, it has really gotten me thinking. 

When working stock, there are times in training there needs to be a "correction" to protect the stock. That does not need to break a dog's spirit, with undue harshness though. Relinquishing access to working to re-set is a "correction", but that is far different than physical punishment. I know I have not been 100% positive in herding, it is very hard to be so-but I don't think it does have to mean extreme harsh treatment of a dog to "train".

In sports training, we ask for lots and lots of repetition. For some dogs this is an addictive drug, that they enjoy. For others, it is not. There are lots of discussions about what is truly reinforcing for a dog, I believe in high ratios of rewards when learning!!! And, to maintain a behavior.  

Agility for one, is unnatural in many ways. Running and jumping is fun for most dogs, but then we add "criteria" and our expectations and our goals and then...that's where it gets complicated. Some dogs don't love repetition. Some do.  

Do dogs really know what we want? Or, carry through on remembering each and every nuance of our training criteria? Maybe after 10,000 reps they "get it", but were we consistent in our teaching phase and has the dog generalized? How many rewards were included in those reps? How much does the dog show you that they find those rewards, reinforcing? How mature physically and mentally is the dog? Asking to much of them, too early, is unfair to them. One size does not fit all. 

Are we paying attention to what our dogs show us is truly reinforcing, or what varied life experiences they have had to handle the new, or what we have truly trained? I err on the side of giving the benefit of the doubt, to the dog. When I see a dog corrected harshly or under serious mental pressure from their human, I cringe. It truly bums me out, to be around that mindset. I feel the dog. I feel their confusion wondering why their human is so frustrated with them. Have you ever had someone snap at you, or criticize you, in a way that feels like out of the blue? It hurts, yes? Imagine if that was followed up with a slap or other "correction"...

I believe dogs feel us too. They have general feelings we can see, and our mindset interprets, based on what we believe. I love thinking dogs! I love biddable dogs! I love happy dogs with a sparkle of mischief in their eyes! I love slightly naughty and independent dogs! Tapping into a dog's mindset, helps us to become a team. By building cooperation, not by squelching their spirit. 

Choosing a venue to train and/or compete in, is a bit like choosing a Village to live in. The mindset of the people you will be seeing over and over, is part of the overall experience. We are all different, which is great for a variety of interactions, except for me-when it comes to being unfair to your dogs. I think the culture around a venue should be enjoyable for all. I don't think some realize how their harshness affects others. I don't think they think, about how it affects their dogs. 

When I was a kid, we moved to a new neighborhood in a large city-in what would have been considered a pre-gentrification area. Homes there now go for millions. But, back then it was an area where lots of kids were left to their own devices as their parent (s) scraped by working. One day we were hanging out on some steps and a girl had her dog's head trapped between her knees, as she sat on the stoop. She proceeded to repeatedly hit the dog on the face, for no reason. The others laughed. I spoke up for the dog. Of course that did not go well for me. For months after I had to take different ways home from school, as the girls waited to beat me up. Much like the way the girl had aggressed towards her poor dog, they came after me for no real reason. Well, maybe questioning their mindset was bit too brave of me? In retrospect I get the circle of violence she herself probably experienced. But accepting violence at all, whether directed at another person or an animal, does not make it Okay. We can all do better!

If you ask yourself how you regard your dogs, back to mindset-are they a partner in your adventures together? Or, a tool for your ego and goals? Some of the most competitive people I know, treat their dogs with utmost love and care. Wanting to win, is no excuse for bad treatment. 

I hope that my dogs know that they are perfectly imperfect, just like me, but we are in this together! I will continue to stand up for what I believe and draw the line on what I feel is fair treatment in training. I would rather my dogs continue to have a twinkle in their eyes, when we work together than being a robot with no sparkle. I love that my dogs' mindset seems to say that they enjoy the process of training and just being with me.  

We can all do better!