STOP Struggling! Here’s the Truth About Consistency #dogtraining

“Be overwhelmingly consistent!” Easy enough, right? 🙃

All good teachers understand how essential this is.

And dogs are very good at exploiting a lack of consistency. They will easily decipher how willing you are to stick to your game plan. This comes as no surprise - I mean, we are dealing with a very smart species here! 🐕 But it’s important to let your dog unwind and have a chance to do their own thing, too… So how do you accomplish that while still being consistent in your training?

You’ll need to feel this out with your individual dog, but it’s easy once you get to know each other a little.

One classic example is walking on a loose leash. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, leash pulling can be absolutely maddening. In fact, this is one of the hardest things for many people to teach their dogs.

So, in the spirit of being “consistent,” you might be tempted to absolutely never advance forward if there is tension on your dog’s leash.

But in most cases, your consistency efforts would be much more effective during set-up training sessions in places where your dog is more likely to succeed. If the sidewalk is too challenging, try your driveway, or even your living room.

And when you take your dog into those more challenging environments, give them the freedom to explore instead of holding them to training standards they aren’t prepared for yet.

All dog trainers know that consistency is important. But you have to balance “consistency” with your dog’s current skill level, and set your expectations accordingly.

That’s going to help you get out of your own way, and you and your dog will make progress much faster (and have more fun, too!)

[SarahHernandez-lnju]

Definitely agree. I wish I had started in my living room lol. But she is getting better on leash with consistent training

[markjansson]

Agreed. Also have to account for a dog's natural instincts, aptitudes, personalities, and life experience. They're not all starting from the same place. Gotta cut them some slack, sometimes literally.

[tocinoamericano]

they are so cute when they wanna play while you're training them, so it's kinda hard to focus

[PheOfTheFae]

Consistency: my parents, lol. Mom did not want the dogs on the couch. Dad didn't care. It worked out that any time Mom was home, the dogs did not go on the couch. When she wasn't, they did. LOL

[bruhverlybruh]

The devil is in managing consistency with other people in the house.