When I took my small dog Max to his first agility trial, we ran in 5 classes, qualified and took first place all five runs. I was sooooo proud of him!!!!!!! When I went to agility class that week I took all 5 blue rosettes to show my agility instructor. Now Christine is a world class agility competitor and I feel really lucky to have her close enough to benefit from her expertise, and Her reply to me was:

“DID YOU MAINTAIN YOUR CRITERIA”

Hey, what kind of a question was that???????

Actually a very good question.

When I am teaching a class, one of the things I ask of my students is to list the behaviors that are important to them and their family.

Do you want your dog on the furniture?
Do you want to be able to walk your dog on a loose leash? how about begging from the table?
Do you want your dog to jump on people
How about barking at everyone who walks down the street

You get the idea, there are so many things to consider when bringing a dog into your household. If you and your family can come to an agreement on HOW you want your dog to behave and work toward that goal, you will all live peacefully and happily.

“MAINTAIN YOUR CRITERIA”

So you have decided you don’t want you new dog on the furniture, then that means NEVER, and it means all family members. If you occasionally let him up on the furniture, he will never learn, he will only be confused by the mixed messages.

“MAINTAIN YOUR CRITERIA”

Sadly we see so many dogs that come into the shelter that haven’t been given the instruction they need to help them thrive. Putting your wish list for your dog down on paper helps you to keep your training going in a forward direction.

So, in my home with multiple dogs I try to keep my list as short as possible. There are certain things I insist on, and I make sure that I NEVER let those slide.

By the way, at Max’s first agility trial, I did not maintain my criteria as well as I would at class, and sure enough, I had to work through a few sloppy behaviors.

Knowing what you want from your dog, gently working to obtain the behaviors you want, rewarding proper behavior, and maintaining your criteria will go a long, long way to create a happy, healthy family.