Why 'Sanity For Dogs'?
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My ultimate goal in dog training is to have a dog that is not only happy and healthy but also well-balanced both physically and mentally. Sanity in this context means being mentally content and not under or over challenged. This is a pre-requisite for respect and obedience in dog training.
A dog charging around uncontrollably, being over-excited or boisterous is not necessarily a happy and balanced dog. You can walk a dog for hours every day and it can still be under fulfilled, 'going out of its mind', playing up as a result. Just like children that are under-challenged at school. Dogs need more than food, love and exercise. Just like children, they need a certain level of structure, rules, discipline and boundaries to be truly content. Teaching them to prioritise their owner rather than what's going on around them will make them focused and respectful. Examples here are running after wild animals, chasing cats, barking at cyclists and joggers. Whether there is anxiety, inscurity, fear, dominance or aggression behind a behaviour it all needs to be addressed as early as possible and a controlled and focused setting to avoid that it becomes an engrained habit and behaviour. With both aggressive or anxious and fearful behaviour it is important that the owner demonstrates confidence and clear leadership with their dog. It is about showing the dog that the owner has everything under control so there is no need for the dog to take over and be in defensive mode. Dogs can also be over-stimulated - excessive and uncontrolled throwing of tennis balls is a classic exampe for that. The owner turns into a 'ball chucking machine', the dog almost forgets he/she is there and just 'demands' the ball to be thrown. When I throw my well-trainined working dog a tennis ball without letting him sit, wait, only run on command and deliver back nicely, it's only a matter of time until he goes 'bonkers' and almost forgets that I am there. This then transfers into other areas and before you know it you have a dog that doesn't listen and focuses on everything else but you. Or listens only when it wants to. Dogs are born to serve, submit and follow (us humans) but most dogs only do that if they have respect for the person. They want someone confident, in control and to look up to. So that they can happily sumbit, relax and follow. The more intelligent the breed (e.g. working breeds) the more important this is. The dog's well-being is always my first priority. It is important to remember that, unless the dog has a medical condition or experienced past trauma, disobedience and 'mentalness' are hardly ever the dog's fault. It is the owners job to teach the dog what is expected and wanted and what is not (in our human world). As you cannot explains things to a dog like you can to children it might need a bit of perseverance and most importantly consistency at the beginning but when the owner is respected the dog will soon learn. For some dogs and/or owners this might only require a couple of sessions; for others it might take longer. Every dog and human is different and it also depends on how long the unwanted behaviour has been established. I am an advocate of getting the whole family involved in the training process. If all children learnt early on how to communicate with, handle and train a dog they are likley to be great dog owners later on in their lives. |
SANITY:
Soundness of Mind. Judgment and Reason. Mindfulness. Rationality. Stability. Normality. Focus. A good foundation for obedience. In Deutsch so viel wie ausbalanziert, gelassen, klar und zufrieden im Kopf. Eine Gute Basis für Gehorsamkeit. Antonyms: Mentalness. Craziness. Confusion. Often reasons for disobedience. Das Gegenteil: unausgeglichen, durcheinander, unstrukturiert, unklar. Oft Gründe für mangelnde Gehorsamkeit. 
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