Dog training doesn’t have to be like obedience

“Dog training doesn’t have to look like obedience.”

This was a dog trainer friend’s response when I commented on his Instagram Reel the other day.

His reel was about the importance of training small dogs and I commented,

“I admit I never trained my first dachshund, but he was also a pretty cool guy, so there was no rush.

I worked to train my young dachshund and am now an advocate for training small dogs. Even if you’re lazy and do the bare minimum like me.

My friend’s comment got me thinking.

I only started consciously training my dogs when I brought home a dachshund puppy 4 years ago.

I know more about dog training now and the importance of it.

Plus, starting with a puppy that was a “blank slate” gave me hope that I could have a perfectly trained dachshund.

This article deviates from my norm where my goal is to provide specific and helpful information.

Today, I’m just thinking about training small dogs and my dachshunds, and my actual level of exertion versus what I perceive.

Take an honest look at my dog ​​training efforts

I wear these things like a badge:

• I’m not a dog trainer and I don’t know much about it.
• I’m too lazy to train my dogs (I don’t like it and I’m not consistent)
• My dog ​​training efforts are just a step above doing nothing
• I don’t have the patience to train my dog

But are these things really true?

My dog ​​trainer friend went on to say:

“Even the simple act of setting limits at home, like getting off furniture or not running out, is still a form of training.“

The examples of dog training I’ve seen over the past few years — especially on Instagram — have focused on teaching many specific obedience skills.

I admire the dedication it takes to train a dog this way.

I admire a well-trained dog that does exactly what you say when you say it.

I thought “it could be me”, but soon found out that it might never be.

Although I love the results, I don’t live a structured life. Very little in my life happens every day.

Dog training was not something I wanted, or even remembered to do, for 5-10 minutes for 1-3 sessions per day as recommended to have a perfectly trained dog.

Honestly, I am both a positive example of:

• Training your little dog
• Not putting a lot of effort into training as my dogs are small enough that I can physically control them if needed

Not in a punitive or negative way, but, for example, instead of continuing to teach my anxious dachshund Gretel how to politely interact with other dogs, I can just hug her to reduce the potential for negative interactions.

But these statements that I wear like a badge and use to constantly diminish my efforts are kind of lies.

What does a well behaved dachshund look like to me

When my Dachshund Summit puppy came home, I wanted him to be one of the best trained Dachshunds ever.

It sounded like obedience to me – sit when I say, lie down quietly when I say, stop barking when I say, stay in one place until I say, etc.

Over the past 4 years my goals and vision of the perfectly trained dachshund have changed.

Given my own limitations in terms of time, patience and interest in training my little dog, I realized that the perfect training was no longer my goal.

I wanted a dog that fit my lifestyle and knew the routine – who knew what was expected of her.

One that didn’t frustrate me because she never did what I needed her to do.

One that was not rude to other dogs or guests.

Honestly, I don’t expect perfect behavior from them. I’m not very structured in my life, so I don’t expect the same thing from them: to play like little robots.

While it’s true that I feel a lot of pride every time someone comments on the quality of my Dachshunds’ training, what matters to me is that they’ve been trained just enough to be great life companions. .

Life Lessons: Training My Dachshund Casually

Unknowingly training my first dachshund

I often claim that I never trained my first dachshund.

In hindsight, that’s not true either.

I did not train him to be obedient in the traditional sense.

I trained him to sit. Kind of.

He sometimes half sat when he wanted to.

My boyfriend taught her to roll over, which was a fun party trick but not helpful in the sense of obedience.

But he learned a solid “wait” (stay) command.

He learned to stop barking when I said shut up (most of the time anyway).

He learned to adapt and stay calm in many different situations.

How did he learn these things? By living with me!

It’s true. I had no intention of formally training him, but he learned what he needed to know so that we could live together harmoniously just by doing things.

I was running with him. When we stopped to cross the street, I said “wait” and put a little pressure back on the leash.

I didn’t know I was training him, but I finally got him to stop and stay in one place just by saying “wait”.

Purposely training my next dachshund. Type of.

I taught my third dachshund, Summit, some obedience commands like:

• Sit
• Lay
• Lay your head down
• Leave him
• Lie down to wait for your food
• Come back when called

Note: At the time I tried training my dogs even semi-consistently, my second dachshund was 12 years old. I train her a bit but don’t hold her to the same standards as Summit.

But I taught him these commands because they are useful to me, to keep him safe, or because I wanted to have fun (the head down command is a good trick for photos).

However, I rarely work on any of these things every day at home in separate dog training sessions.

If I want to, I do. But most of the time, these are just things I work on to teach Summit when the mood strikes.

Daily occasional training

I mainly train my Dachshunds while we live our normal lives by putting certain commands, or words, to specific actions that we already do anyway.

Put on a harness

I started asking the dachshunds if they “want to go away goodbye?” when I’m about to put on their harnesses and go out.

It was kind of just for fun, a casual “conversation”.

Now, one of mine will now stand by the door when I say that.

My other takes a few more cues to get over her anxiety about putting the harness on (she used to run and hide from me) – like the door being open so she can see outside and me pointing at the door – but she’ll be standing by the door now too.

Minimize barking outdoors

Although I am under no illusion that I will ever be able to get my dachshund to stop barking at everything that is going on outside, I try to minimize any disturbance to our neighbours.

Ever since she was a puppy, when Summit started barking, I’d say “no barking” and bring her inside.

She understood that every time I picked her up and carried her, I was saying “let’s go inside”.

Eventually I could just point to the door and say “inside” and she would walk into the house.

But you know what’s funny now?

Sometimes when she has a barking fit, I walk to the door to tell her to come in and find her running towards me.

She barks and gets inside!

Training my dogs to come back when called

When we’re going for hikes or walks, and it’s safe, I can drop the end of my dogs leash and reinforce the recall by letting them run ahead of me, then asking them to come back to me (to a treat as a reward).

Every experience can be a teaching moment

I rarely go anywhere with my dogs these days without carrying a treat pouch.

That way I can use every situation as a training moment if I want to, because I’m always ready to reward my dogs for doing the right thing.

If they show unwanted behavior, I can request the desired behavior instead and reward them for doing so.

For example, if I see Gretel staring intensely at another dog on a walk and she seems about to bark or rush at him, I can ask her to leave (look at me) or come over. sit instead.

Occasional dog training is always valuable

So I guess you could say I’m a casual dog trainer.

I’m the type take advantage of daily dog ​​training opportunities rather than set aside a specific time for it.

By using this method, I think I can devote as much, if not more, time to dog training than many people do.

I know that I spend more time training my Dachshunds than the average owner (as evidenced by a Dachshund’s poor behavior and owner’s complaints of behavioral issues).

Although my dachshunds are certainly not perfect, they are trained enough in the way that works for our lifestyle.

Final Thoughts on Obedience Vs Casual Dog Training

So I guess this article is a reminder for me – and for you – to train your dog when you can, as much as you can, and train the commands that are important to you, but don’t be too hard on yourself. -same.

Training your dog doesn’t have to look like obedience or targeted training sessions.

It’s your dog. Dog training—both what you train and how you do it—may sound like whatever works for you.

If you do something consistently or out of habit, your dog may already be learning without you trying.

Putting a little effort into training your dog is better than nothing and more than many people do, especially when it comes to small dogs (we know that small dogs are generally less trained than big dogs).

But remember, it works both ways – you may inadvertently teach them beneficial things to know, but you could also lead to bad habits.

Some behavioral problems, whether simply undesirable or dangerous, require targeted training to overcome.

It may even be necessary to see a behaviorist or work with a professional dog trainer to correct the problem.