There’s another NFL besides the professional football league that will host the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 3. The acronym stands for No Free Lunch- one of the most important policies of dog training.
This means that all things rewarding to a dog must be earned. This is a hands-off way to set yourself up as the benevolent leader in your house and earn the dog’s respect. This mantra to live by with pets will help with every behavioral and training issue.
Independent and aloof dogs benefit greatly from an no free lunch lifestyle, because it teaches them to value their owners’ attention and requests more and are more dependent on you for valuable resources in their life.
Needy, clingy or insecure dogs benefit because it teaches them that only calm, listening behavior gets attention and life is predictable.
This is a daily way of life, not something to begin enforcing on days when the dog is not listening.
Inconsistency with this technique will actually make issues worse because it will teach a pet that its owner is wishy-washy and will give in eventually if they are even more persistent with bad behaviors.
It doesn’t take hours and hours of training to institute a no free lunch policy: it’s just a shift in a paradigm.
When feeding a pet, make sure it sits and stays. Before it goes outside to the backyard or on a walk, have the dog sit first.
Basically everything Fido wants, he must do something for it.
This has huge positives associated with it. The dog will start to learn that everything out its owner says is pure gold, as it will constantly be rewarded for good, calm behavior.
This is the greatest discipline you can give your four-legged companion, as their intrinsically selfish nature responds well to removal of rewards as consequence for disobedience.
Make sure not repeat commands. Dogs don’t understand repetitive words. Saying sit once is entirely different from saying sit-sit-sit.
Humans have a propensity for repeating not only our words, but also our actions. Think of when you come to a crosswalk – how many times do you press that button? Or an elevator? Many of us can’t just press it once, despite the fact the light doesn’t change or the elevator doesn’t get there any quicker.
It’s an equally futile proposition with our dogs.
Stay consistent and the bond between owner and dog will grow, as the dog learns it’s very rewarding to listen to you all the time and not just when he feels like it.
Dave Dreyfus is force-free certified dog trainer. Check him and Citydog! Club out at www.citydogclub.com.