Does anyone else picture a bulldog in a muscle tank top when you read that headline? Okay, maybe its just me…
Dumbells not required!
So what exactly do I mean by training muscles? Many of the behaviors we expect from our dog require prerequisite skills to perform. You can think of these skills as "muscles". We have to strengthen these muscles before we can ever hope to achieve the behavior we want to accomplish.
This is the face I make doing a pull up!
Imagine I had a goal to be able to do a pull up. Perhaps I need to first let my readers know that I was not born with incredible upper body strength. Okay, so imagine I wanted to do a pull up. If I started out my journey by installing a pull up bar and immediately trying to accomplish my goal. What would probably happen? I would fail, not just fail but fail miserably. I probably wouldn't even be able to raise my lead filled feet one inch above the ground! I would then promptly return the pull up bar and decide I wasn't "made" to be able to do a pull up, always wishing I had been.
It takes practice!
So what does this have to do with dog training? I'm glad you asked! You see, I experience dog owners doing this to their dogs constantly without even realizing it! We are constantly expecting our dogs to exhibit behaviors just because we want them to, without taking into consideration that they will need to exercise these skills for awhile before they will be able to perform the behavior at the level we will be satisfied. We then make excuses for why our dog "isn't good at training", "has puppy ADHD", or is "just plain too stubborn to be obedient".
"I know he knows what I want, he just won't do it!"
Make sure your dog is prepared for his assignments!
Many times when I hear an owner say this, I know exactly what is going on. Cognitive recognition precedes physical capability. In other words, your pup will understand the behavior you are requesting before their physical skills are capable of obliging. The "stay" command is a perfect example. As we get ready to teach "Stay" to our furry friend, we get so excited about how we will be able to utilize this command in the future, that we ask too much too quickly. Time and time again I see owners who are just beginning stay, trying to get the dog to accomplish Duration, Distance, and Distractions all at once. Your dog will understand that the command means do not move until you are released but he is far from having the self control to actually perform the behavior. So, even though it may seem that they know exactly what we want and simply choose not to do it (and I am not saying that never happens) many times it is because they are not "strong enough" to accomplish the task
Will I ever be able to do a pullup?
Let's revisit my goal above of the perfect pull up. A parallel exists between the dog above and my quest in upper body strength. I knew exactly what I wanted to accomplish, a pull up. But simply understanding what I wanted to do was not enough for me to be able to do it. I would need to start with a strength training regimen. I would need to start wherever I saw success and build from there. Even if that means simply lifting 1/10 of my body weight! I may even need to cross train in areas that do not seem to be related to my ultimate goal. For example, I may not "need" to or have a desire to be able to do bicep curls or bench press. However, accomplishing these goals will strengthen my arm muscles, preparing me to lift my own body weight high enough to clear a bar with my chin.
You might be surprised at what they can do!
Now let's turn the channel back to the owner in obedience class working on a "Stay" command with their pup. First , start wherever they are successful. Forget walking away from them, get rid of the distractions, and start with a short stay (6 seconds or less). Also cross train in other areas that help develop self control "muscles" like Leave it exercises and Polite leash walking. Slowly increase duration, distance and distraction, preparing their training muscles to perform the "Stay" command you are hoping to eventually accomplish.
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