Client Question Asked & Answered

One of my clients asked a great question the other day and I thought it might be useful to others—it went something like this:

Deirdre (@thadventurousweeone): “Do I need to take Thaddeus to a super busy place to train with him?”

Me: “Well it depends on if you plan to be in those situations frequently with him.”

Deirdre: “No.”

Me: “Then no.”

Some of the training I see regularly recommended is arbitrary to the life the dog is actually going to lead with their people.

Taking dogs to The Home Depot to train when visiting The Home Depot isn’t a regular thing you are planning to do is 100% unnecessary.

If you have a social dog and would like to frequent breweries and farmer’s markets, certainly teach them the skills that will be useful to keep them safe and happy in those environments!

Keep your lifestyle and ideal dog/human activities in mind when thinking about the skills you’d like your pup to have to safely maneuver the world. Teach and build from there! Want hiking to be a regular activity? Practice auto-checkins, recall, pulling over on the trail, etc. REAL WORLD skills.

Also important: both parties should enjoy the activities you’re planning to partake in. Personally, I can’t see a Border Collie settling on a mat at a busy brewery while you leisurely drink beer. I also cannot envision a brachycephalic breed loving or being safe participating in a 20 mile hike.

Precedents and routines are incredibly important to dogs. Build your life with your dog based on environment and context, not arbitrary nonsense that outdated narratives tell us make “good dogs”.

Let's dismantle the idea of raising dogs for public consumption.

What is your dog’s favorite activity and have you built specific skills around it?

*NOTE: Puppy critical learning period is not what I’m talking about here. Though re-thinking what “socialization” looks like is in order, that’s for another post.

Visual ID: Graphic with words that say "Client question asked & answered. Read below to learn about which life skills I recommend my clients teach their dog and why." Words are overlayed on top of a photo of a person and their dog in the distance on a beach with a pink and purple sunset.