When Hounds Fly, Foundation Skills
Engagement and Relationship Building - The Bedrock for
Successful Training.
Objective – Understand why developing and
strengthening your relationship with your dog is vital to
success in training strong and reliable behaviours in
your dog. We all want our dogs to listen to us and respond
to our requests, right? Well, at the root of a well trained dog
is a strong and healthy dog/ human relationship! If your goal
is to have a dog that listens to you, you will have much
greater success if you spend time strengthening your
relationship - a relationship built on trust and joy. When you
spend time investing in your relationship there is powerful
learning going on. Your dog is learning that their humans are
fun, kind, interesting and great to hang out with. These dogs
gravitate towards their humans more and more, and your
training efforts will benefit in a powerful way.
Engagement = Mutual Interaction
Relationships are built on enjoyable and meaningful
interactions; interactions that are fulfilling to both parties. This is a chance for you to explore
what things your dog likes to do with you? Here are some ideas for you to try:
1. Toy Play. Many dogs LOVE to play, and they love it when their humans get involved in
the game. Remember - Dogs like toys because they give them the opportunity to chase,
hunt, grab and pouce so move that toy and get them pouncing!
2. Being Silly Together. You don’t need toys to have fun together. Experiment with ways in
which you can just be silly together. Use your body (chase each other!), use your voice
(playful voice), use your imagination! What gets your dog acting silly along with you?
3. Learning Together. Getting out the treats and the clicker, and helping your dogs to learn
new things (in a fun and supportive environment) is a very powerful way to bond with
your dog. Never stop learning new things with each other!
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4. Sharing Affection. Many dogs love to be close to their humans and enjoy a good belly
rub or butt scratch. Never underestimate the relationship building power of a good
cuddle!
5. Exploring Together. Going out and enjoying the world together on a regular basis is a
wonderful way to bond. What parks, trails and other interesting places can you explore
together?
6. Resting Together. Everyone loves couch time!
What other ways can you find to have meaningful, trust building, and enjoyable interactions with
your dog?
Every dog is unique. Experiment and see what your dog responds to.
Have fun exploring!
The Importance of Engagement Training Sessions:
If you commit to making your training sessions fun, interesting, and engaging you will have a
dog that learns to enjoy responding to your requests, and you will be well ahead of the game.
Set your dog up to succeed in every training session and enjoyment will follow!
1. Offer valuable reinforcement (we all need motivation!).
2. Reduce distractions when teaching new behaviours (add in gradual distractions over
time).
3. Build behaviours slowly (If your dog is struggling make it easier - we all enjoy learning
more when we feel successful).
4. Keep it light - Have fun! How can you insert fun and lightheartedness into each of your
sessions? If your dog enjoys training sessions they will learn better, faster AND will be
eager to learn more!
Remember: If you, or your dog, is not enjoying the training session, it is ok to take a break
and come back to it later. In fact, it is better to take a break at times like these, rather than to
push through a session where you both feel miserable, frustrated, disappointed or bored etc.
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