It’s a good idea when training your dog to avoid stupidity. Gets you in trouble every time!
Okay, stop laughing. I’m serious! What do I mean by stupidity? I have two definitions.
1. Stupidity is not being prepared.
2. Stupidity is continuing to do something that didn’t work before, hoping that the outcome might be different this time.
First of all, about being prepared.
There are some surprises I like. My husband giving me flowers for example.
But there are a lot of surprises that I don’t care for, like opening up my bank account and discovering that the $500.- check that I forgot to write down has now been posted. Or missing the next plane because the arriving Air Force One has closed my airport down.
Then there’s doggy surprises. Like arriving at a show and realizing that I have left home the one toy that my show dog truly loves (think “Busy Bee” from Best In Show). Not so much fun.
But realistically, though I can rail at the extreme unfairness of it all I cannot entirely prevent this sort of surprise, because it is caused by two things I can’t eliminate:
1. At some point I will screw up.
2. Life happens.
So I try always to be prepared with a Plan B. Some fallback I can do if my premier idea doesn’t go as I’d hoped. Like who knew that my dog who loved that toy would also perform for the chicken hot dogs I had also brought — but he did.
On the other hand, some things apply to the second definition of stupidity. For example, when a puppy isn’t becoming potty trained no matter what I do, I know that there must be something else going on.
If you are working with your dog and you aren’t getting anywhere in a reasonable period, you need to change tactics. Do this in a two-step approach.
1. Look back at the original book, text, or resource where you got the training idea. Ask yourself: “Am I doing this right?” (The answer can be embarrassing.)
b. If you were doing things correctly, but it’s not working, it’s time to change gears.
If you don’t know what to do, there are lots of good resources. You can ask your breeder. She has probably had the same problem you are facing at one point. The American Kennel Club has a large reserve of articles you can access here, under “Expert Advice”. Revival Animal Health also has a comprehensive learning center, accessed here. If you ask me, I’ll also see what I can do to help.
But don’t just keep on doing the same thing. There’s an answer out there to your difficulty; you just have to find it.