The Problems With Most Dogs Today

1) The Big Problem

The problem with most dogs today is a fairly simple when you look at it with a 10,000 foot view.

Most dogs live in suburban neighborhoods with owners who have had dogs but have no formal dog training knowledge.

This dog is bred to work. He is bred to be something.

BUT, his owners don’t do much with him. They may take him on a walk from time to time. Or go to the park to play fetch. If the weather is nice, they may go to the dog park. But besides this, they don’r do much.

The dog has no structure in his day or routine. There are no set rules for him to follow really. There isn’t much order. They make him wait to eat out of his food bowl, but besides that, there isn’t much structure.

And this is the problem. Dogs bred to do things and bred to work but aren’t given work to do.

So, when a dog is cooped up and has no job, what do they do? They create work for themselves. This work is normally the stuff people hire us for. Like destroying the couch, eating the baseboards, going crazy when people come over, etc.

And, on top of that, since there aren’t any rules, or any rules that are enforced, he jumps on the counter to steal the pizza. He pulls on the leash. He knocks grandma over when she comes around. Etc.

Then most exciting part of his day comes round! It’s when the family gets home or guests come over. The dog goes INSANE!

So they put their dog in a crate or lock him in the bedroom because he is too excited and going wild. After a bit they let the dog out and it starts over again. The dog is insane because he just recharged his energy while in the crate and when he is let out of the crate he goes INSANE!

There lies the problem. Dogs bred to work. They have the energy to work. But they don’t have anywhere to use that working energy. They don’t have any rules, boundaries or structure.

This is where YOU (our future Certified Dog Pro) comes in. We show the client what to do with their dog. We help them teach their dog to listen, stop doing the bad behaviors and listen around distractions through our Tribe. We show the client how to communicate in a way the dog understands. We give them fun stuff to do with their dog in-home and through our Tribe events.

How to Solve It - The Formula For Dog Training

There are 3 main things that add up to a fully trained dog. There is a fourth for some dogs, but those are special cases.

So if most dogs are bred to do some sort of job, are untrained and under stimulated, what are we as Dog Pro’s supposed to do? What is the formula for a trained dog?

Training + Stimulation + Maturity = A Trained Dog

Let’s break it down…

1) Training

Training is simple and something that every dog needs. Training can be defined in a lot of ways, but here we will call it showing the dog what TO do (rewarding the good), what NOT to do (correcting the bad) and providing rules, structure, boundaries, etc. That is what training is in the simplest form. Showing the dog what we want him to do, stopping what we don’t want him to do and providing boundaries/structure.

2) Stimulation

Stimulation can be simply defined as providing the dog an avenue to express energy. Now stimulation breaks down into two categories: Mental stimulation and Physical stimulation. Both are helpful and do different things.

Physical Stimulation

Exercising the dog in some capacity to burn physical energy. Examples would be walking, running, fetch, dog park, treadmill, flirt pole, etc.

Mental Stimulation

Exercising the dogs mind to use their brain energy. Examples would be making the dog work for his food with training, putting his meals in a feeder bowl toy/snuffle mat, a brain puzzle, mental enrichment, brain games, etc.

Both are helpful. Doing both daily is going to be a winning move in order to calm dogs down.

If you just physically exercise the dog, the downside is that over time the dogs stamina will get built up. Meaning that the 1 mile walk our clients do will have to become a 3 mile walk to get the same result. Then after the dog cools off they are right back where they started.

This is why adding mental stimulation aspect into the dogs day/routine is a MUST. We need to give the dog something to do mentally to stimulate the dogs brain energy.

It’s harder for a dog to be bad if they are mentally worn out AND physically worn out.

Pro Tip: If most dog owners would just walk/run their dog and make them work for their food, 80% of their problems would go away!

3) Maturity

Maturity is simply the age of the dog. Unfortunately, we don’t have much control over this.

You can mature a dog through harsh discipline and training, but no one wants to do that and we don’t do that.

Ultimately a puppy will be a puppy. Most dogs, as they mature, stop doing some of their bad behaviors. Behaviors such as pottying in the house, chewing destructively, etc. Without training through and even if the dog is mature, dogs will still jump, run off, pull, etc. They may just not do it as bad as when they were younger.

When does a dog mature? It really depends on the dog but you’ll see the dog “mature” at around the 18-24 month mark.

4) Supplementation

Some dogs in certain cases may needs supplements or meds to calm them down/relieve some sort of anxiety/fear/etc. These cases are rare with us here at Wonder Dog.

Typically with proper stimulation (both mental and physical) dogs fears will be reduced. It’s hard for dogs to be scared/anxious/aggressive when they are worn out from erercise.

But with some dogs, this isn’t the case. Some dogs need some sort of pharmaceutical or doggy CBD or calming aid to get rid of the anxiety/fear they have.

With all that being said, supplementation shouldn’t be a first choice for behavioral challenges with dogs. What we mean by this is people shouldn’t be giving their pup doggy Xanax because it’s too hyper. Or forcing their dog to eat CBD gummies as a way to help them through a storm a new person coming over if their dog is fearful of people.

*Note: We’re not by any means demonizing meds or CBD when needed, we’re just saying that other options like training and exercise should be tried as the first solution.

Supplementation isn’t our first choice and we can’t make the dog mature faster. So, we have to focus on what we CAN control. Which is…? Training and stimulation.

With each client we’re teaching simple commands, solving simple problem behaviors and helping them train their dog around distractions and socializing through our Tribe.

We’re showing dogs what TO do, what NOT to do, and helping our clients implement structure (furniture manners, door manners, stair manners, potty training). It’s up to US as Dog Pro’s to show clients the benefit of providing mental stimulation to their dogs as well as physically exercising them DAILY!

So, now you know the problem that faces most dogs today and the general way we go about fixing that. We have things we can’t control and things we can control. Focus on what you can control and forget the rest.

Pro Tip: Have these main 4 things that are the solution memorized. It’ll come in handy to know it and to be able to explain it.