The art of raising a puppy by Monks of New Skete

Author:Monks of New Skete
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Puppies, Puppies
Publisher: Boston : Little, Brown, and Co.
Published: 1991-08-19T04:00:00+00:00

We remember one client who came to us for advice on his four-month-old Rottweiler puppy, who was starting to growl at strangers. When we went out to meet the client and his dog, they were sitting on a bench in our front yard. As we approached, the pup started to growl in a low, threatening voice, at which the owner quickly tried to reassure him with a soothing voice, saying, "It's okay, boy, it's oooh-kay. . . . Gooood boy, gooood boy, eeeeasy, ..." gently rubbing him on his side as he did so. Naturally, the growling only grew worse, and the man looked up helplessly, wondering what to do. Fortunately, we were able to settle the puppy down by taking a short walk with him, and after several minutes he became very accepting and friendly. The owner then complained, "I don't understand it, he's such a good pup, and yet he has this thing about growling ..." We explained to the baffled owner that the pup was merely doing what he was told. Reviewing with him his reactions during the incident, we showed him that he was unintentionally rewarding the puppy's growling by his soft praise and petting. The only message the puppy was receiving was "this is the way to act."

There is no way we can say that this pup was "disobedient." Instead, we can see that the owner showed a misunderstanding of what he was communicating and an ignorance of how to communicate his true intent in a clear, authoritative way.

To Obey Is to Hear

In dog training, most people conceive of obedience simply as something the dog does in response to his handler: the dog is the one who is obedient or not. This is only half of what real obedience is. "Obedience" comes from the Latin word "ohoedire," which in turn is cognate to "ob-audire," meaning "to listen, to hear"; by extension, this always implies acting on what is heard. Contrary to popular thought, obedience is as much your responsibility as it is your dog's — even more so, since you are responsible for shaping your dog's behavior to fit your living circumstances. The problem with many dog owners is that they fail to listen and respond to the real needs of their dogs; unknowingly, they are disobedient.

To be a good companion to your dog, you must be obedient, that is, fully alert and focused on your dog, flexible

136 I The Art of Raising a Puppy

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