Let's Replace Obedience With Cooperation

Everybody wants a well-behaved dog. But contrary to the general perception, that doesn’t require obedience training. In fact, there’s a much better way to teach your dog to behave nicely. 

While many trainers still offer traditional obedience training, modern (positive) trainers are teaching skills and cues, instead of commands. Real-life skills are what puppies and adult dogs need in order to be truly well-behaved. As a result, they don’t have to be constantly told what to do—or corrected! 

In obedience training, dogs learn basic commands like Come, Sit, Down, and Stay. It’s pretty easy to get those behaviors happening in the kitchen with an open bag of treats. So now your dog knows those commands, right? Maybe, but can he respond when you have guests? Or in the backyard with a squirrel running around? Or when you take him on leash to a park or a dog-friendly store? How about the waiting room at the vet clinic? 

Context and Emotions
Context changes everything. And responding is especially difficult for a dog who’s feeling excited, nervous, scared, or anxious. 

According to the mindset and language of obedience training, when a dog isn’t responding to a command, he’s deliberately disobeying you. They say things like You can’t let him get away with that. He knows it, he’s just being stubborn! Or he only comes when he feels like it.  

Unfortunately, the obedience model doesn’t take into account different contexts or emotions. That’s where punishment, aka “corrections,” comes in. Obedience-focused people will let the unwanted behavior happen, then say No!, repeat commands, grab the collar, and pop the leash. Some use the spray bottle, penny cans, shock collars, and other unpleasant consequences. The “dog whisperer” would surreptitiously deliver kicks to the flanks of insubordinate students.

Punishment has many potential bad side effects for all animals, including stress, confusion, frustration, and negative associations that lead to reactivity. Eventually, punishment (even if it doesn’t hurt) can lead to depression or aggression. Another terrible consequence may be damage to your relationship with your dog. Training the old-fashioned way, with fear, force, and intimidation, is just not necessary and often leads to worse behaviors.

More people are becoming aware that there’s a far better way to get to well-behaved. It begins with changing our mindset, replacing the goal of obedience with the goal of cooperation. This is a win-win mindset for people and dogs!

Positive Reinforcement
Training with up-to-date positive-only methods and techniques is faster, kinder, and smarter. Dogs, horses, and other animals love learning this way. And it has only beneficial side effects: willing cooperation, more calmness, patience, and focus. And it teaches dogs to get into the habit of doing the right thing at the right time, without even being asked sometimes. It’s not unlike raising well-behaved children! 

When we train the skills of calmness, attention, and self-control, our dogs are able to think and make better choices. They learn how to handle distractions, as well as scary and exciting situations. They are able to notice things in their environment yet still pay attention and respond to our cues, as long as we train at their pace. 

Having these foundation skills strengthens our connection, our relationship. Good habits replace unwanted ones. That grows confidence at both ends of the leash. Being more confident helps prevent—or overcome—fear and anxiety.

Skills training is easier than you might think. Here’s how we get there: 
1. To make the right choices easier, we must block “wrong" choices (management such as barriers prevents repetition).
2. To improve focus and communication, we teach replacement behaviors in a clear way that dogs can understand, in conditions where they can always be successful.
3. We raise criteria and change conditions gradually, at the dog’s speed of learning.
4. We consistently reinforce desirable behaviors with things our dogs value (food, toys, attention, and other real-life rewards), so they cooperate happily. 
5. Good habits are formed with practice! 

Copyright Lisa Benshoff 2019, updated 2024