Why I Train My Dogs. And Why You Should Too.

Welcome back to the second post of the Canine Conversations Blog with TNCA. Let’s get into it.

So today we’re talking about something that I think many dog owners don't tend to think about and I find they often don’t have a good answer to. Why do we train our dogs? It’s a simple question, and I often get answers like “We want our dog to behave,” or “we want our dog to have manners.” Those, and many other similar answers, are certainly aspects of it, but what really lies at the root of our desire to train our dogs?

When I first started training my dogs, I certainly didn’t really understand why. Both of my dogs were formerly service dogs candidates (although neither made it due to health issues), and when I first started training them when I was in university, neither of them were even intended to be my dogs. It was expected that they would both leave me in a year or so to pursue their duty of being service dogs. Perhaps at that time, the training I did with them was partly due to the obligation I felt to the service organization and the responsibility I felt to foster and raise these dogs so they could fulfill their future purposes and duties. Perhaps it was the novelty of finally being able to “own” a dog, and to watch with fascination while I taught them; to see their minds churn with the confusion that always preceded their oh so happy wagging tail when they realized they had succeeded. Whatever it was at the time, I never really gave it thought until much later.

After I adopted them from their service organization, the restrictions on what we could and couldn’t do were lifted. While they were with the service organization, there was a fairly strict list of rules that we had to adhere to. Understandably so, considering the work that these dogs had to possibly do later in their lives. We didn’t want to develop bad habits. I didn’t feel that it affected our relationship, but I do have to admit that it sometimes felt limiting from my perspective. Fortunately, we were free to explore what I saw fit once the dogs officially became mine. After the adoptions, and I hate to admit this, but there was a period of time where I didn’t do a lot of training with my dogs. They had such a solid foundation from the training and obedience they learned during their first year of life, I often didn’t feel the need. By pet dog standards, it was often hard to find better dogs. It wasn’t until I started diving deep into the world of dog training that I began to think and truly understand the reasons behind the training.

Since I fell down the dog training rabbit hole, I’ve spent, and often continue to spend, every night absorbing and internalizing as much information on training that I can. I’ve learned a lot from a diverse group of people, studying different styles and methodologies. Whether it’s force-free, balanced training, sport dog training or police work, there’s so much to learn from all of these different disciplines. While I may not always agree with what’s being done, there’s always at least something to think about and develop my own opinion on, and I’m constantly learning and thinking about new things every day. As I learned and implemented things with my own dogs and my clients' dogs, I began to wonder why I was doing all of this. Why had I done so much service training with my own dogs? Why was I still putting in all this effort with my dogs? Why did people come to me and other dog trainers when they needed help with theirs? Again, at a basic level, you might think that ‘people just want their dogs to stop driving them crazy,' or ‘people just want their dog to stop wrecking their homes,’ and I think that’s part of the story, but to reduce it down to that I think is too basic. By no means is this to brag, but my own dogs are some of the most behaved I’ve ever seen, and even then, I still do training with them.

With the many owners and dogs that I’ve worked with and the understanding I have about training now, I look back at all the service training I did with my dogs, I think about all the training I’ll do with them in future, I reflect on the many clients I’ve seen with their dogs, and think I’ve truly come to understand why I and so many others train. While I think people don’t often realize it, the answer, just like the question, is simple. We train our dogs because we love our dogs. The skills that we teach them and the structure that we provide them gives them the skills they need so they can succeed in this world. It gives them the ability to live the most joyous and free lives that they possibly can. For me and so many others, I believe that their joy brings us joy. And deep down, we really couldn’t ask for any more. So if you love your dog, train your dog. Just like everything else, it won’t always be easy, and it won’t always be pretty. Sometimes you’ll get frustrated, and oftentime, you might make mistakes. But I believe that every dog is capable of giving you back so much more than what you put in, and for me and so many others, that’s a deal that we’ll make every single time.