Dog training is all about attention….and a little bit of timing.

This morning I was working with one of my clients under the MoPac bridge at Lake Austin.  We were teaching her nine month old Golden how to behave with all the people, bikes, dogs and other doggie chaos that’s down there.  The pup we were working with was going a great job.  He was sitting politely when people walked up to him, wasn’t straining on the leash to get to the other dogs that walked by a couple of feet away, and was generally paying good attention to his owner.  We’d worked on that for WEEKS  beforehand.  

Everything came clear to the owner when another dog walked by who was dragging it’s owner behind.  The lady stopped to say what a good dog we had with us and then proceeded to show us the blisters on her hand from the leash the dog had been dragging her by.  I felt really sorry for this lady because it just doesn’t have to be that way.  If she had spent some time on the basics of getting the dog to pay attention to her she wouldn’t have been pulled all over the place on her first visit to the hike and bike trail.  I mean, after all, my client didn’t have any trouble today and it was that pup’s first visit as well.

 There are lots of ways to teach attention to a dog.  Most of them involve a good amount of patience which is in short supply these days for most people.  Taking the time on this though will pay HUGE dividends with every other training activity you and your pup embark on.  Basically, taking the time to teach the pup how to pay attention will teach them how to LEARN.  I know that’s a lot of capitalization in a blog but it’s that important.  Do not skimp on this activity.

Dog training is all about attention.  If you have your dogs attention you can do almost anything.

 I’ll be writing more about training and attention this week because I’ll be working with a young Brittany pup that will need a LOT of help.

Steve Haynes
Austin Dog Trainer
www.fideliodogblog.com
ph. 512.231.8095