A few months ago I worked with neighbor's 5 month old puppy - twice. He learned a floppy sit and that if he did things he got a small, yummy treat. I haven't worked with him since. This morning, he got out and was speeding around the neighborhood at top speed. Now a whopping 60 lbs and 7 months old, there wasn't much anyone could do to stop him. Neighbors were out on the street trying to block his dashing about and to keep him out of the street. He'd speed toward someone and at the last second veer off in another direction.
Hearing yelling, I stepped out onto my porch and watched the mad spectacle of a flying redish dog bringing a neighborhood to a standstill. He was a block away when I slipped on my flip-flops and went out onto the sidewalk. I stood still and yelled "Hi pretty boy," just loud enough for him to hear me. He stopped, stared, stared a second longer and then came barreling at me full speed. I honestly wasn't sure if he was going to veer off like he had done with everyone else, so I just stood there. He slammed into me and wrapped his body around my legs, tail wagging, eyes bright and started licking my hands. We walked together to his home and into his yard. "Hurray," all around and thanks from the neighbors.
When we're talking about "positive training," what we're really talking about is "positive associations," with people, things, places and cues. If I had ever yelled at or corrected this puppy, he would be unsure about coming to me, "Will she be mad or nice to me?" Because I had only created positive associations with him, he didn't have to question whether I was safe or not. He knew.
For all things dogs learn like "sit," "down," and "stay," the thing that stays with them is "safe" and "unsafe." Some dogs take "unsafe" to the extreme and see the world as a unsafe place, but most dogs have the two categories. In your dog's world, you want to be "safe." You want to be "home base" where problems get solved, play and food are plentiful, and bad things don't happen. Dogs bring us so much joy, the greatest gift to give back is to be the one thing in the world that isn't scary.
