OK let’s look at dog training a little differently… As many of you know I have two sons… A nine year old and 13 year old, and I am gonna use them as a way to describe a huge problem concerning the perception of dog training. The boys are respectively in the 4th and 7thgrade and while their Mom and I are constantly on them about grades and homework we realize that neither of them is gonna be taken off for college for several years… So why get all bent out of shape over a C or D here and there or a late homework assignment? Well simple we are working hard to create habits that our boys will take on into not only college but life as well. Not to mention we as parents understand that this is a marathon and not a race… We have 12 years to prep a child for college and for life after the school system, right? (Some might even argue it takes a lot longer than that)

 
Ok so what does all of this have to do with dog training? Simple I am trying to show the difference between 12 years of education and a six to eight week dog training class…  Not to mention the difference in patience levels that we seem to have in dealing with kids and dogs.  In my group classes I am quite the stickler that folks invest 30 days for both hand feeding techniques and field trips to meet new people. Beyond those two things I pretty much let the dogs and owners work and learn at their own pace, but I constantly hear “ I don’t have time to hand feed” or “there is no way I can make time to go to Petsmart to practice how to greet strangers”… Heck, I know many of you won’t believe this but there are a ton of folks who pay good money for the class only to show up for a couple of weeks and never show up again???? The reason… People have a really skewed idea of just how long it will take to train a dog…
 
If your dog lives on average 10-12 years and humans live on average 78 years, that means that people will spend over 15% of their life in school (not including college) If we use the approximate same ratio a dog should spend somewhere between 1.5 and 2 years in “school” to get the same education…. But for some crazy reason people expect the miracle of a 6 – 8 week dog training course to solve all their problems…
Look this article is not meant to beat anyone up, instead to help you understand just exactly what you have gotten yourself into with the purchase or adoption of your furry four legged friend! Let’s face it, it won’t be you that suffers when you decide to give up and admit it was just too much work… So be realistic, put in the time and train your dog the right way with patience and time! The love and friendship you get back will be well worth it….. 
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