No Such Thing as a “Stupid” Dog
“Oh, he never comes when I call him. He’s just stupid.” “Why does he insist on chasing his tail? What a dumb dog.” Have you ever thought those things about a pooch before? Many people have, but one pet behavior specialist tells us that there’s no such thing as a truly stupid dog.
On her blog, Sarah Wilson says, “In my twenty plus years as a professional dog trainer, I have met one dog who was not bright. One. Probably brain damaged during birth, he was a sweet animal just could not put things together. Every other ’stupid’ dog I have met were dogs with plenty of brain power, they just had a communication problem with their human.”
Sarah discusses the very familiar situation of when a dog doesn’t listen to its owner and/or doesn’t know how to respond to certain commands.
You tell your dog something and he stands there and stares at you. You stare back at him. Simultaneously you both think, “???,” and walk away. Or you’ve shown him a million times what to do and he still doesn’t get it. Obviously he can’t be too bright.
Sound familiar?
Most likely, it does sound familiar — to both petsitters and pet parents.
What’s Happening? You may have shown him many times, but if you made no sense to him, he could not learn. I recently saw a lovely family with a jumping dog. Every time their dog jumped up, they gently guided her to the floor and stroked her. They thought they were showing her how to stop; she thought jumping was a nice, praise-filled activity. Uh-oh! Confusion central!
Quick Fix: If your dog isn’t learning, assume what you’re doing isn’t making sense. Either you need to tweak your technique, or you need to try something else. The great news is there are more training approaches available today than ever before. You’ll find one that fits you and your dog!
Hint: Review your behavior to change his. Is your voice calm and clear? Are you using simple words consistently? Do you follow through right away? Is your praise warm and genuine? Does your dog seem relaxed and happy? Your dog can change his behavior, but you have to change yours first.
Great advice! Next time your dog or the dog you’re petsitting doesn’t seem to “get” what you’re saying, take a step back and re-evaluate your approach.
September 13th, 2008 at 2:28 am
I totally beleive your theory to this story. When I was in training with one of my dogs, they told me my voice was not demanding enough, and that I needed to use a more harsh stern voice with him. When I returned home with the pooch and tried it at home it worked and I have used this technique with all my dogs and I stand to believe its all in you as a pet owner, petsitter use your techniques. You can be stern, but also a loving caring pet sitter or pet owner. The dogs will respect you even more. It’s like a child if a child ask’s and ask’s to have candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Are you as a parent going to give it to them? Hopefully NOT!! You have to be in control of the situation. Not them in control of you.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I can totally relate. my dog is so clueless, and i used to get so frustrated with her just because she was too busy bouncing off the walls to obey me whatsoever.i finally realized, however, that she has something that not many people realize. She may act stupid, but she doesn’t care what people think of her, or what she does in life. We spend our whole lifes trying to learn more, to to make enough money to live off of. Her life is perfect with us in it, and nothing else matters to her. so next time you go to call her stupid dog, think that she loves you, and that is what a lot of people strive for-Consider yourselves lucky.
September 20th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
There is no such thing as a “stupid dog”, but there is such a thing as an “ignorant” owner. When I say “ignorant”, I mean “unknowledegable”. If a child has not been taught properly(in a way HE understands) than he will not know what to do-same goes for dogs. The goal of training is to get a dog to do what you want them to do in the way that THEY understand. I find people have a set expectation of their dog when they choose which training method to use. That training method may work to train themselves but not what will train their dog.
Dogs need motivation-food, toys or people are the basic three, followed by a loving, but firm (not harsh) response. The dog should not fear you in order to get him to do something, all he learns is to fear you. Dogs don’t learn what you want them to because they are stupid. They don’t learn, because you don’t know how to teach them the way they need you to.