Episode #10 - How Mental Exercise Can Shape Your Dog’s Behavior - Utah Dog Training
Like 1 Dislike 0 Published on 8 Jul 2016
Through the years, I’ve found that dog owners and trainers alike frequently misunderstand the concept of exercise. Quite often owners come to me for the first time and say things like; “We don’t understand out dog. He’s really aggressive. We exercise the heck out of him, but he’s still aggressive on walks.” Or: “I don’t get it! My dog chewed the couch and dug up the back yard even though I exercise him all the time.”
Somewhere along the line, many people got the impression that exercise and training are synonymous, or that one can take the place of the other. I’m not sure where this misconception began, but it’s an extremely common one. I frequently her people complaining that they don’t understand why a well-exercised dog might have behavior problems.
Is exercise important? Of course! Is it a key training principle? Well, it depends. A dog with the right mindset just isn’t going to chew up furniture or be aggressive. I’ve very rarely seen exercise provide that correct mindset for a dog, but I’ve commonly seen that mindset created in the absence of exercise. For example, I’ve had plenty of clients who, for one reason or another, can’t exercise their dogs well—yet their dogs behave.
What I’ve found over the years is that tiring a dog out through his brain is much more effective than tiring him out through his body. To make this more relatable, I compare this to cramming for a test. Think about how you feel after sitting at a desk for three or four hours, just thinking and working through problems. By the time you’re done, you’re completely wiped, even though you didn’t do anything physically. Your exhaustion is purely mental.
For more info on this topic and to get your free dog training book go to - http://goo.gl/I8jdCF
Website: http://tythedogguy.com