Sometimes a solution to a challenge we need to attend to with our pet dogs can best be solved via management rather than training. We all have a limited amount of energy and time, so when we can find a short cut to a behavioral solution, which is satisfactory and conclusive, and every bit humane, then by all means, let’s use it.
One of my management techniques and strategies is gating when I’m making meals for my 7 dogs. All of my dogs love food! Most dogs do, though, I have met a few who aren’t over the top about meals. When it comes to my dogs, I feed them twice a day, so they are on schedule for meals and this helps elimination patterns as well.
When I make meals, I can almost see the hearts floating around my dogs’ heads and stomachs. The excitement, especially for a couple of them, is so extreme they jump up and down with glee and utter some ridiculously cute sounds as I’m about to deliver the meals. That would be the two whose noses are poking out between the gate slats in the photo.
If I don’t use the gate to keep the dogs at bay so I can move around the kitchen, I can tell them to move out of the kitchen. They will, but as their excitement escalates, they creep back in and are back under my feet. So either I drag my feet, so I don’t trip, or cue them to leave the kitchen again. And again. And again. There may come a time when I set into effect a training plan to keep their paws on targets outside of the kitchen during meal prep. But for now, I have my management plan as my back up.
When efficiency is a priority, I use my pet dog management plan. This is when the dogs watch the food prep from behind the gate and out from under my feet. They are very well trained about going behind the gate. I had one hold-out who took a bit more training to cooperate on leaving the food prep area, the beautiful Dobie in the photo, but once it was established she would get a delicious food reward for both going behind the gate and also get the meal, she cooperated eagerly. The dogs still needed a bit of training in this case for the management plan to be effective.
Not all management plans need training to be effective. Lifting a dog into a car because he won’t jump in, keeping an ex-pen around the front door so the dog won’t run out when the door’s opened, and putting a leash on your dog to escort him to the bathtub at bath time so he won’t run the opposite way are three purely management solutions to controlling a pet dog’s behavior.
When you need a quick and reliable fix, sometimes pet dog management can be an effective alternative choice to training.
To send your dog to the Love Wags A Tail board-and-train camp for motivational learning with our cast of characters, contact us with your dog training, behavior modification wish list to get started.
Helen Verte Schwarzmann
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Certified in Training and Counseling
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed
Certified Trick Dog Instructor
AKC STAR Puppy, CGC, and Trick Dog Trainer and Evaluator
Your Board-and-Train Dog Trainer for south and southwest Florida, Southwest Ranches, Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Broward, Naples, Collier, Fort Myers, Lee county
