Sounds crazy, right?! A dog trainer teaching their dog to not do as they're told? Well...not quite!
My dog does as she’s asked to 9 times out of 10. And the one time that she doesn’t, I listen to her and try to understand why.
- Is she not lying down when asked because laying on the pavement is painful? I wouldn’t be comfortable doing that either!
- Is she not being great on lead because of that huge loud truck that went by? To be fair, it frightened me too!
- Is she not coming back to me the first time I ask because the environment is too distracting? Fair enough, I understand that this is a new area where I haven’t done enough recall training.
If I train my dogs to obey every request, then I remove the opportunity for them to communicate with me that they are uncomfortable.
✅ I want my dogs to tell me when they want to play tug or do training with me!
✅ I want my dogs to tell me when they’re too sleepy to go for a walk or too hot to play with me.
And then there is of course the fact that I want my dogs to have fun! I want my dogs to play, adventure, and be free!
If they are waiting for me to tell them what to do, they aren’t going to find their own fun! Instead, I teach my dogs to explore, paddle in streams, and climb logs and fallen trees! 🪵🌲 I encourage them to dig on the beach, tear up cardboard boxes and just have fun in whatever way they want!
Encouraging my dogs to do this is teaching them to be more confident, as well as challenging them to be smart and think creatively!
It’s also a fantastic way of helping them choose to make their own good decisions!
I don’t want to have to tell my dogs what to do. I want them to choose the right decision for themselves, and yes sometimes they might get that wrong… but actually, more often than not they do get it right!
❤️ So instead of having to call my Molly back when she runs off, she chooses not to run off in the first place.
❤️ Instead of having to ask my Alfie to drop it, he chooses to not pick it up at all.
❤️ Instead of calling Molly away from the other dog, she always comes to me first to ask for permission.
What I’m saying is that I am encouraging my dogs to be able to make good decisions without my input.
So yes, I do allow my dogs to disobey me, as it helps…
Us communicate easier
Me listen to them better
Them have more fun and be more free
Me to see her funny quirks and individual personality
Them make good choices without my input
Their confidence and innovative thinking
My dog’s opinions on their own lives are very much valid, and I feel that sometimes that is forgotten.
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