“OBEDIENCE” TRAINING?

Dog obedience can’t be trained. Dogs can’t be taught obedience. Obedience classes are almost—but not quite—a ruse. A lie. Well, not exactly a lie, but a collection of a lot of misinformation or partial thoughts about dogs and dog behaviors that keeps getting promoted as fact, as an approach that’ll work… but never really does. Worse yet, we don’t talk about how the definition of obedience training and our understanding of obedience training isn’t and aren’t working.

Our understanding of obedience training isn’t working. No surprise there. How sad.

Let’s start talking intelligently about obedience training.

Traditional Training’s Approach to Obedience Training

“Teach any dog this behavior, it will have been taught obedience. Teach them these sequence of behaviors, they will be obedient.” That’s not the way it works.

Obedience can’t be taught. It can’t be taught because obedience isn’t a set of behaviors to be done, it’s not things the dog needs to do, it’s a dog’s state of being.

A high energy level dog is Nature’s wild dog—they cannot be obedient. They’re wild. Nature intended Her dogs to be that way. The wild dog is the dog that Nature reflexively triggers in its high energy range to do all the things Nature needs it to do in the wild—BECAUSE it’s wild.

A low energy level dog is the definition (note: definition) of an obedient dog—its energy range is low and its brain is in control. The wild dog isn’t present—the wild dog that Nature reflexively triggers in its high energy range isn’t getting triggered. Nature’s not in charge; Nature’s not present to trigger those wild triggers. The dog’s energy range is low. Its brain is present. Its an obedient dog.

Look and See—It’s That Simple

Anybody can look at any dog as say, “That’s an obedient dog!” or “That dog is NOT obedient.” One dog’s energy level is high and they’re out of control. The other dog’s energy level is low, its brain is present and in control. Humans look at both dogs and they just… know… that a dog is or isn’t obedient. It’s a yes-no switch. It’s an on-off measurement, and it’d done at a gut level. We all do this, all the time, but it’s done without a conscious awareness. The consciousness and the awareness is key. Let’s talk about that, later… or not. 😉

When the dog’s energy range is low—when Nature’s wild, out-of-control, reflexive behaviors are no longer being triggered and the dog is no longer being reflexively triggered (24/7 in your home) like the wild animal in the wild—that low energy range is the indicator when your dog is obedient. When their brain is present, THAT’S when they are going to be able to do the things that “obedient dogs” are able to do. They’re able to do those things because their brains are now present at those lower energy levels.

It’s Your Dog’s State of Being—It’s How Your Dog Is

Obedience isn’t a thing to see. It’s not a behavior to watch. It’s not a sequence of things that anyone sees a dog do—it’s a dog’s overall, umbrella state of being. We humans have a really hard time talking about states of being. We have a hard time talking about our own inside factors, let alone factors inside a dog! We have such a hard time talking about all of it that this sentence, this post, and its discussion is probably going to be dismissed by a lot of readers. It’s hard to fathom. It’s esoteric. Reading it there may be a large number of dog owners that won’t be able to comprehend what it is that’s being (friendly) argued. Nevertheless, it’s something that can eventually be learned.

“Obedience” Is Your Keeping Your Dog’s Energy Low

Obedience isn’t training the dog—obedience is you keeping their energy range low. If your model for you and your dog’s relationship accommodates this concept—Nature’s concept—of the human definition of obedience, then you’ll make sense out of it immediately. If not, then you may need to learn more about it through more hard work and reading of clear, helpful posts that make sense.

So the next time you start thinking about getting OBEDIENCE TRAINING for your dog, ask the trainer who’s doing the “obedience training” what it is they’re going to be doing with, for, and to your dog. Ask them how they’re going to be identifying when your dog has been OBEDIENCE TRAINED. Ask them how they’ll measure before and after the OBEDIENCE TRAINING to prove that your dog has now been OBEDIENCE TRAINED.

Then start working on keeping your dog’s energy levels low.

Respectfully submitted.