yes, usually dogs who have *super annoying* or problematic behaviors had some reward for that early on, or just never got "counter-conditioning" (reward for a less annoying thing.)
so if I go to the shelter and there is a dog that starts hopping up and down when a person approaches and they're a year old, I'm like, "ahhh your people thought this was cute when you were tiny and then realized they had no clue what to do when you were huge. I am sorry. hopefully you can get time with one of the volunteer trainers and a less clueless person."
(fwiw we totally thought it was adorable when our puppy chased toys under furniture! until he got too big to fit, and did some furniture damage and had a lifelong habit of putting toys under the furniture and barking until you removed the toy. because if you gave it back he would just have it under the couch again in 3 minutes. so, yeah.)
also, one of my personal pet peeves is that people think puppy training should start with things like "sit" and "heel." my most useful things for dogs to learn: come, not pulling on a leash, letting a strange person touch their collar (for if they get loose! the catching is so much easier!), being comfortable with people being around their bowl when they're eating, being comfortable with paws/mouth/ears being touched (for vets, small kids, etc.), not jumping, and my favorite is "off" which is easy to teach but means if you drop pills on the floor you can shout "off!" pick up the pills and give your dog lots of treats and not have to give them emergency vet care. These are so much more useful than "sit." (or basically, being a fun dog to be around and not a large furry barrel of energy who you have to constantly supervise/worry about aggression issues/etc.)
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Date: 2015-07-08 06:08 pm (UTC)yes, usually dogs who have *super annoying* or problematic behaviors had some reward for that early on, or just never got "counter-conditioning" (reward for a less annoying thing.)
so if I go to the shelter and there is a dog that starts hopping up and down when a person approaches and they're a year old, I'm like, "ahhh your people thought this was cute when you were tiny and then realized they had no clue what to do when you were huge. I am sorry. hopefully you can get time with one of the volunteer trainers and a less clueless person."
(fwiw we totally thought it was adorable when our puppy chased toys under furniture! until he got too big to fit, and did some furniture damage and had a lifelong habit of putting toys under the furniture and barking until you removed the toy. because if you gave it back he would just have it under the couch again in 3 minutes. so, yeah.)
also, one of my personal pet peeves is that people think puppy training should start with things like "sit" and "heel." my most useful things for dogs to learn: come, not pulling on a leash, letting a strange person touch their collar (for if they get loose! the catching is so much easier!), being comfortable with people being around their bowl when they're eating, being comfortable with paws/mouth/ears being touched (for vets, small kids, etc.), not jumping, and my favorite is "off" which is easy to teach but means if you drop pills on the floor you can shout "off!" pick up the pills and give your dog lots of treats and not have to give them emergency vet care. These are so much more useful than "sit." (or basically, being a fun dog to be around and not a large furry barrel of energy who you have to constantly supervise/worry about aggression issues/etc.)
sorry, minor rant over. :)