04/08/2025
🐶They Don’t Understand the Cue Yet🐶
💭Your dog is a dog, not a human. Humans can be given the definition once and walk away happily knowing it the rest of their lives. Your dog can't!
Just because you say “sit” a few times doesn’t mean your dog fully understands!
🐕Training takes time—think dozens or even hundreds of consistent repetitions.
👉Dogs vary in different levels of memory, inferencing skills, and generalization skills. One dog may be able to connect things very quickly, while others may have a more challenging time.
👉The cue, or “command” that you're trying to teach the dog isn't necessarily what they are learning. You might be thinking that the word “sit” or bringing your hand up with food is your sit cue. However, dogs are extremely keen on body language, so, if each time you step into the dog (unconsciously) the dog might read that body language as the cue.
👉Your vocal intonation and body language change depending on the situation. Think about if someone was talking to you and mumbled, or their body language did not correlate with what they were saying. Your dog may not understand the nuance of these situations, this is a capability that we as humans take for granted
👉You’re not understanding your command correctly. Take a moment and slow down. What are you ACTUALLY saying to your dog, in what way, and when? Break your training down into steps that your dog can understand and be an active participator in and observe the choice they make, then react to that choice predictably. Often the faster you go, the more mistakes you'll make. Find a place where you and your dog can make those mistakes together, and strengthen your skills in your reps until both of you feel confident on what your commands actually mean.
🎊This is what trainers help with! We are great coaches because we have the eye for incorrect movement, schedules of reinforcement, and spotting the miscommunications. We know goal, and we understand how to progress forward properly. While there is plenty of information on the Internet about training: learning hands on with an expert, takes the stress out of not knowing. It speeds up the training process as we can easily decipher your dogs individual drives and motives. We can also navigate you through some potential hardships that could be holding you back from you goals. We will never judge you for not knowing because it's our passion to educate and encourage. 🥰