Just read the recent “How Should I Handle This” thread, and it got me wondering something that I'm hoping some of the trainers here can clear up for me...
I’ve heard/read several times that when a dog doesn’t follow a command, it’s not because it is being willfully disobedient and CHOOSING to do something other than what we’ve commanded. Rather, it’s because the dog “doesn’t understand the command” or that it “thinks the command is a request, not an order.” Something to that effect....
What’s the true, accepted “psychology” for lack of a better term at work here??? I imagine that the above explanations are accurate and that the vast majority of obedience breakdowns are the fault of the trainer (as I'm sure my dog's are my fault). But as far as professional trainers can tell, do dogs ever mean to disobey??
I ask because at times, my dog seems to deliberately disobey or ignore what I thought were deeply engrained commands (and not necessarily in high-distraction situations). I’m not talking about complex hunting behaviors—I’m talking about fundamental commands (like sit and come) that have been taught and reinforced every single day since the day I brought him home.
When you tell a 2-plus-year-old dog that’s been through obedience training and collar conditioning to “come,” and he doesn’t even blink, even while just dawdling around the yard after going to the bathroom, what’s going on?
He obviously knows what the command means, because he follows it 95 percent of the time (100 percent with reinforcment from the e-collar). So what's going on in his head on the remaining 5 percent, and how do I eliminate those refusals?
I’ve heard/read several times that when a dog doesn’t follow a command, it’s not because it is being willfully disobedient and CHOOSING to do something other than what we’ve commanded. Rather, it’s because the dog “doesn’t understand the command” or that it “thinks the command is a request, not an order.” Something to that effect....
What’s the true, accepted “psychology” for lack of a better term at work here??? I imagine that the above explanations are accurate and that the vast majority of obedience breakdowns are the fault of the trainer (as I'm sure my dog's are my fault). But as far as professional trainers can tell, do dogs ever mean to disobey??
I ask because at times, my dog seems to deliberately disobey or ignore what I thought were deeply engrained commands (and not necessarily in high-distraction situations). I’m not talking about complex hunting behaviors—I’m talking about fundamental commands (like sit and come) that have been taught and reinforced every single day since the day I brought him home.
When you tell a 2-plus-year-old dog that’s been through obedience training and collar conditioning to “come,” and he doesn’t even blink, even while just dawdling around the yard after going to the bathroom, what’s going on?
He obviously knows what the command means, because he follows it 95 percent of the time (100 percent with reinforcment from the e-collar). So what's going on in his head on the remaining 5 percent, and how do I eliminate those refusals?
