Don’t you wish everyone would train their dog? How often have you seen people being towed down the street by a big dog wearing a harness? How about the dogs that bark at anything that moves, jump up on guests or attack anything that moves out on the street?
This stuff has got to stop. In my opinion, you should have to have a dog-ownership license before you can have a dog, the same way you have to have a drivers license before getting behind the wheel.
The only place I’ve heard of where this is actually done is Austria. They actually have a dog owner’s license and state sponsored training schools, and the cost of the license is inversely proportionate to the amount of training your dog has undergone. The cost of owning an untrained dog is very, very high and comes down in steps as the dog completes the training courses. The cost of having a fully trained dog is almost nothing.
This seems a bit draconian, but then Austria is a germanic country where the trains run on time. I’m not sure I’m entirely in favor of the Austrian system, but it seems to me entirely appropriate to require anyone who wants to own a dog to at least complete a basic course. This would be for the dog’s benefit and for the public at large. Certainly when you see some of the dog/owner gong shows on the street it makes a lot of sense.
I’m a Canadian, and all this would really be is a repeat of the laws we now have for firearms. You can get a gun legally in Canada, but you have to take a firearms safety course and demonstrate basic competence first. Same thing should go for having a dog.
This blog is all about dog training tips. There are simple steps you can take to have a respectful, well-adjusted dog. Simply try to incorporate each of the tips into all your interactions with your dog. Master one, get it working and see the improvement in your dog. Then try the next. Lather, rinse, repeat. When you have incorporated all the dog training tips, you won’t recognize your dog.
These dog training tips won’t win you first place in obedience trials or teach your dog to retrieve ducks and he won’t be able to guide a blind person around town. That is a much higher level of specialized training and isn’t what we are after at all. The goal is to produce a good dog for companionship. A good family dog. Once you establish this basis you can go on to bigger and better things if you want to.
It seems to me that there is a real disconnect in this field. There are all kinds of systems out there for high-level training of all kinds, but there is very little available for the person who just wants to have a good dog that is safe, obedient and pleasant to be around. That is what I’m trying to target with these dog training tips, and I make no apology for it. If that’s what you’re looking for, check in again soon and we’ll get those training tips going. See you soon.
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