When you say “SIT” to your dog…
… You want your fido to be responsive, right?
And by “responsive” I DON’T mean your dog looks at you and then does nothing (or worse completely ignores you!)
Responsiveness means your dog actually understands what this means and is compliant 99% of the time.
(Total compliance isn’t what we’re looking for… after all, we’re not living with robots!)
Why Responsiveness Is Important
Your dog’s response to you, the environment, other people and, of course, other dogs is direct feedback on two things:
- Appropriate behaviour.
- Effective communication.
If you find yourself often using the heavy sigh communication technique:
Constantly repeating an instruction to your dog, but they don’t do what you want and then you put your hands on your waist and give a heavy sigh…
Then you’ve experienced the effects of low response reliability!
The Most Important Response Qualities In a Dog
What does everyone really want from their dog?
The simple answer is:
A mixture of “a good dog” and “a dog that obeys me” (more on this further down).
But, what does this look like in practice?
Here’s what I think are the important qualities that a dog should have:
- Calm: Being able to settle down, i.e., stop jumping, stop barking… no hyperactive behaviour.
- Heel: Walk by your side and without pulling on the leash.
- Recall: Come when called.
- Sociable: Friendly with people and with other dogs, not scared or aggressive.
- Huggable: This is necessary for interaction – hugs and stares – this means that your dog can be touched and it’s comfortable with human interactions.
The Quiz: Dog Response Reliability
I created this quiz as an easy starting point to FIRST help you discover your dog’s level of responsiveness to you, and also find out:
- The key things that you ACTUALLY want from your dog, and the sequence of achieving them.
- The 6 E’s (very important)!!
- How using the wrong approach has negative effects.
The quiz is based on daily activities you have with your pooch, so nothing “technical”.
Curious?
Take the short 2-minute quiz. It’ll be worth your time!
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