Episode 13: Why Generic, Cookie-Cutter Training Methods May Not Work For Your Dog

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Let’s Go for a Walk. Today we are going to be discussing dog training formulas and why they do not work.

This is a big topic and a difficult one, because many people now get their dog training information from the internet. Professional dog trainers can be expensive, and many people are struggling financially. Because of that, people often want to train their dogs or puppies themselves without paying to work with an expert. That is completely understandable.

What often happens is that people go online, usually to YouTube or other websites, and they subscribe to these broad, all-in-one training systems. These programs promise solutions for general topics such as preventing behavioral issues or raising a well-behaved puppy. People follow these systems and implement them exactly as instructed.

Sometimes these systems work, and sometimes they work for many dogs. However, there will always be outliers. There will always be the dog or puppy that simply does not respond the same way. This can be extremely frustrating. In some cases, methods that work well for one dog can even create problems for another.

The reason I am talking about this is because I am seeing this issue more frequently. People follow these methods and later run into problems, so I want to explain why that happens.

The reality is that every dog is an individual. Just like humans, each dog is unique. Even within the same breed, there can be enormous differences in temperament, motivation, and drives. We often make broad assumptions about breed characteristics, but individual dogs within a breed can still vary quite a lot.

These differences matter. For example, one dog may be extremely motivated by a specific toy. That toy might be easy to use as a reward during training, and progress can happen quickly. The handler may think the training system works perfectly.

Another dog of the same breed might also like the toy, but not as strongly. If that second dog is trained in an environment where something else is more rewarding than the toy, the training will not work as expected. The dog will ignore the handler and continue engaging with the more rewarding distraction. In that situation, the dog is repeatedly self-rewarding and learning that ignoring the handler still leads to good outcomes.

So why does one person have success while another person fails using the exact same training system? The answer is simple. The dogs are different.

For example, I have Belgian shepherds. You can see them here running around. These dogs came to me almost programmed to watch and engage with me. Because I train them for search and rescue, I actually had to work very hard to build independence in them so they would move away from me and search.

My new puppy Mimi, on the other hand, is completely different. She naturally ranges far away and has no problem exploring without checking back. Because of this difference, the same training approach that worked with my Belgian shepherds will not work with her. I have to train her in a completely different way because her personality and motivations are different.

Another issue I see is trainers who specialize in a particular breed. For example, some trainers work primarily with border collies and develop systems that work extremely well for that breed. Those systems may produce excellent results with border collies.

However, if you take a completely different breed, such as a bloodhound, and apply the exact same system, problems can appear.

For example, many training systems encourage giving dogs freedom and allowing them to roam and explore. For a border collie, this often works well because border collies are naturally inclined to check back in with their handler. Engagement comes easily for them.

Bloodhounds are very different. They were bred to follow scent trails independently. If you give a young bloodhound puppy unlimited freedom without first building strong engagement and recall habits, the dog will simply learn to roam farther and farther away. The puppy may feel fulfilled because it is exploring, but it is not learning the behaviors you ultimately want.

As that dog grows into adulthood, you may find that you cannot safely allow it off leash because it has developed a strong habit of ranging far away.

This is why it is so important to evaluate your own dog when you are following any training system. If you are implementing a program and you see steady progress, that is a good sign that the approach is working for your dog.

However, if you start making progress and then things begin to decline, that is a warning sign. If your dog begins self-rewarding behaviors and you cannot redirect them, the system you are using may not be appropriate for that individual dog.

Recognizing that early is important. If you continue down the wrong path for too long, it becomes much harder to fix later. In many cases you can still recover, but the unwanted habits may always remain under certain circumstances.

The main point I want to leave you with today is this. Whenever you are following a training system, always pay attention to your dog’s responses.

Ask yourself whether things are actually improving or getting worse. For example, if your dog is barking at other dogs and you were told to give them more freedom and agency, but the barking continues to escalate, the problem may not be fear. It might be frustration, and the current strategy may be making that frustration worse.

Always monitor your dog and be willing to adjust your approach based on what you observe.

Thank you so much for listening today. If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe to the channel.