I often wonder what life would be like without a dog or dogs in it. I have written many times about my four Labradors and how much they mean to me and my outdoor way of life. Tracer is going on 11, Sarge is almost 9, Raider is pushing past 6 and my little guy, Ghost, was 2 in March.
When you hunt as much as I do, it is more work than one dog can handle, especially if the temperatures are high and heat exhaustion is a major concern. Having many dogs allows me to hunt for an hour with one dog, and that dog rests as I take a fresh dog into the field.
The only way to be able to live harmoniously with four dogs that all reside in the house is to have four dogs that actually listen.
There are three distinct kinds of dogs that fit into three categories — dogs that hunt well, dogs that are easy to live with, and dogs that are both.
Very few dogs fit into the third category. The difference between a dog that listens and one that doesn’t depends on the owner. As the saying goes, “A well-behaved dog is welcomed almost everywhere, and a badly behaved dog is welcomed absolutely nowhere.”
Why would anyone want to spend 10-12 years with a dog that does not listen? Does not seem like all that hard a question, but it must be a difficult one because the majority of dog owners cannot answer this question with a rational answer or reason.
If I hear one excuse over and over, it is that the owner does not know how to train the dog properly. This might have been a sound excuse 20 years ago but with the videos on YouTube and all the books available on the subject, it really does not hold any water today.
The real answer in most cases is that the owner will not dedicate the time and effort to train the dog and hold it to high standards after the training is completed.
A professionally trained dog, one that has spent months with a professional trainer, will revert to an un-trained dog in a matter of a few short months if the owner does not regularly reenforce the lessons the dog has been taught. It only takes about a week for the dog to learn who in the house means business and who will let them get away with just about anything.
The first thing a dog needs to know is that they are a dog, not a human child, not the leader of any pack or any high-level position in the family pack.
The reason professional dog trainers thrive in this country is not because there is nobody else capable of doing the job, but there are not enough people willing to commit the time and energy to do the job on their own.
I live in a town where people walk their dogs around the lake constantly. About 80 percent of the dogs are walking their human and not the other way around. On many occasions I can take these “un-walkable dogs” for an afternoon and when that day is done, they will walk at heel with me anywhere I want to go.
A gal told me three years ago that I had saved her dog’s life, because without that one day of training and showing her what to do, she would have had to either give the dog away or have had it put to sleep if another suitable family could not be found.
At the end of the day, when you command a dog to do a certain thing, they need to know the command is not a request. It is an order. You will not need to utilize any high level of force or correction.
You will use repetition and body language to communicate with your dog to achieve the desired outcome. Remember the first rule of owning a dog is that the dog must realize and understand that it’s a dog.
You can follow along in this column over the next few months as I will be starting a four-part series on the basics of how to train your dog. There’s no magic here; just basics that allow you to own and love a dog that listens. I look forward to sharing my almost 25 years of experience on the subject.
You should feel free to reach out to me before, during or after this series and I will be glad to help you along your way to having and enjoying a dog that falls into Category 3.
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com. or on Twitter @habitat champion.