Should I Let My Dog Make Choices?

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1:03It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Lib Synads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre-produced ad like this one across thousands of shows to reach your target audience in their favorite podcasts with Lib Synads. Go to Lib Synads dot com. That's L-I-B-S-Y-N ads dot com today. Hello and welcome to one minute dog training tips on dog works radio. I'm your host Nicole Forcho and today we're going to talk about allowing dogs to make decisions. One of the biggest myths in dog training is that a well trained dog is one that waits for instructions for everything. But in real life, especially for working dogs like service and therapy and even really

2:05busy family dogs, that's simply not realistic. What we actually want is a dog who can make good intuitive decisions when no one is telling them what to do. So you're probably asking, how do I even encourage that? Well first off, we have to stop confusing control with clarity. Dogs don't develop intuition by being corrected into submission or queued every five seconds. They develop it by understanding patterns, outcomes and expectation. When a dog understands what works, they begin to offer those behaviors on their own. That starts with letting your dog try things. Instead of immediately queuing them to sit when you stop walking, see if they do it. Instead of micromanaging every step of a walk pause and see if your dog corrects himself back into the heel position and chooses the right behavior. When they make a good choice with no direction, like settling without you asking them, checking in naturally or disengaging from a high distraction, that's the moment.

3:09Reinforce it clearly and consistently. Second off, we need to reinforce thinking, not just being obedient. If your dog pauses instead of lunging and chooses to look at you instead of having a reaction or they're asking you for the guidance to problem solve the situation that's overwhelming, that deserves reinforcement just as perfectly timed as telling them sit. These moments teach your dog when I slow down and think I win. Third, structure your environment to support success. Intuitive decision making doesn't develop in chaos. If your dog is constantly overwhelmed, they're not thinking, they're surviving. Start in low pressure environments where good choices are easy and then gradually add complexity from there. This is how dogs learn to generalize judgment, not just commands. And finally, accept that mistakes are part of learning. If a dog never makes a wrong decision, they're not learning how to make the right ones. The goal isn't perfection, the goal should be to be progressively better and have correct

4:14good choices over time. So when you stop trying to control every aspect of your dog and you teach them how to win things on their own and how to make consistent, correct choices, they win and we win. We create confident, resilient dogs who can handle all aspects of real life because really the best trained dogs aren't ones that are waiting for instructions like a robot. They're the ones who already know what to do and how to do it. If you have someone you want to help you get them to allow their dog to do more thinking, kill this episode. And until next time, happy training. Happy training! And until next time, happy training! Happy training. Happy training. Until next time, happy training! Happy training! Happy training! Happy training! Happy training!