Dog Training - The importance of Consistency

When training our dogs, consistency is key. As a dog trainer, it is quite obvious that much frustration (both dog and owner) is borne out of a lack of consistency.

I very often see different family members (or even the same person) switching between different vocal cues such as ‘wait’ and ‘stay’. Another common one is teaching the dog 'down' for lie down and then telling them 'down' meaning get off when they have jumped up at us, 'down' when they are on the furniture etc. If they give a beautiful lie 'down' on the sofa, which is what has been asked of them, they then get told off for not getting off!

People in the household may also be using different hand signals for the same required behaviour.

We have the advantage of knowing what we mean, the dog doesn’t! To the dog, the change in signal and / or vocal cue creates much confusion and the owners can end up getting very frustrated with the dog when actually, the error lies with the handler’s communication.

Family dog training

Its like someone asking me to sit in Japanese and then switching to a Russian word for sit and expecting me to understand what both words are asking of me. I will likely look at you in as confused a way as the dog does!

Another thing I often come across is a lack of consistency for the dog which differs with the mood of the owner. For example, a dog is not allowed on a sofa but occasionally the owner is feeling sad or lonely and encourages the dog up for a cuddle. The next time the dog gets on the sofa, they are then told off and put back on the floor. Either they can or they cant be on the sofa. It is unfair to deliver mixed messages dependent on our moods or the habits of the different individuals in the house.

Another example of how to confuse a dog with human behaviour: maybe I train the dog to stay out of the kitchen so as not to be under my feet. One day whilst preparing a Kong, I drop dog food on the floor. It is much easier to invite him in to eat it up than it is to hunt down the dustpan and sweep it up. This is giving my dog very mixed messages as the permitted behaviour varies with, and is conditional on, my personal mood and levels of laziness on that specific day. He cannot be expected to, and will not be able to, predict in the future when he should or should not enter the kitchen.

Consistency is key. Training a dog requires everybody to communicate with the dog using the same vocal and visual language. We are speaking an entirely different language and expecting the dog to understand, lets make it clear and consistent so that we are being fair to the pooch!