Never Trust Your Dog
How many times do you hear someone say, “He’s never done that before!” or “I didn’t think he was going to do that!” right after their dog: bolts down the road after a squirrel, attacks another dog, rips their owner’s arm off by bursting to the end of the leash?
You should never trust your dog. Never assume they are going to behave, no matter how many times they’ve done it before. Assume they are going to MISbehave, and then if they do, you’re ready, and if they don’t – good dog!
I’m not saying don’t give your dog freedom. I’m not saying don’t give your dog chances and choices to fail. Failure is how we learn. BUT, when you let your dog fail, be there to pick them back up before the failure goes too far. Give your dog TIME to make the right decision on their own, but be on guard to correct the wrong decision, always. When deer walk out in front of us on the trail, I keep my lips sealed… and my finger on the ecollar. She knows she’s not allowed to chase them. And now, by giving her the chance to fail, she will stare for a few moments and turn back to me all on her own. She can make the right decision without me even giving verbal direction. This is an important skill to develop as it means she’s equipped to make those right decisions when something goes wrong, when I’m not looking or aware to give her verbal direction.
Because even with a perfectly trained dog, things can go wrong. Maybe you just noticed your shoes untied, or just spilled hot coffee all over yourself. Maybe that’s the moment a dog will walk by, a rabbit will burst out of the bushes, a loud noise will startle your dog. Maybe you’ll run into some jerk kids with firecrackers, and you forgot to condition your dog to wild maniacs with fire. My mother tells a story of walking by the tracks near the fair, and they happened to have tigers in town. When the dogs caught that scent, they bolted in the other direction.
Maybe you forgot, or lacked the resources, to properly condition your dog to loud flash bangs, or… tigers…
By not depending on your dog to make the right decision on their own, you’re protecting them from their own bad decisions that can quickly go from disobedience to harmful to life-threatening. When lives are on the line, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Never trust your dog.