This was originally a “Maisy Moans” social media post way back in 2021,so if you think the images look familiar, that’s why, but as it is still one of the most common questions I get asked when people enquire for help with their dog’s behaviour I thought it was worth revisiting!
- “How long will it take to stop my dog barking?”
- “How long will it take until I can leave my dog home alone?”
- “How much more loose lead walking do I have to practice?”
- “When will he just GET IT?”
These are questions I get asked pretty much daily and so it is time for some real talk here – you need to be dedicated to changing your dog’s behaviour problems. It isn’t going to happen overnight.
I do not have a magic wand and there is no quick fix. I’m serious there isn’t. What you see on TV and TikTok is not reality. One of the reasons that you see so few positive, ethical trainers on social media with millions of followers, or with their own TV show is because effective training is BORING. It does not look “sexy” or make great TV. You can’t magically “fix” a problem in a 3 minute video and so our work looks less entertaining, some of these “balanced” trainers would even say, “less successful” but those of us who understand the science (check out this webinar if you would like to know more) and why we are working the way we are know what we are doing is with the dog’s best interest at heart.
Many of these “how did I go from this………. to this” style videos are simply good video editing. Worse than that many of them hide the fact they are using punitive methods to get the dogs to “comply”. On several occasions now I have had to pause videos which clients are showing me to point out the use of a prong collar that these “trainers” are using in their videos. They are sneaky and some they hide them under wide pretty printed fabric collars. Social media is deceiving. We all know it! Just look at the use of filters to pretend we have a tan and flawless skin (yep I am guilty of that one far easier than putting make up on everyday!).
The truth is this:
If you want to change a habit then you need to form new behaviour patterns. Sometimes for dogs we need to change their underlying emotions before we can start changing the behaviour they show. This is the part these “trainers” don’t bother with. Adding fear into a situation where a dog is already fearful does not “fix” anything, (for example using a prong collar to give a correction to a reactive dog who is barking at another dog). If anything it worsens the situation especially for the poor dog who internally may well just be giving up and shutting down. This type of training which so very sadly gets glorified and thousands of “likes” and “shares” on social media is based around suppression. It may “stop” the behaviour in the moment and may seem like it has “fixed” the problem but actually the underlying cause of the problem, the worry, the fear the dog is feeling is very much still there. The problem is “fixed” for the owner in that moment but what tends to happen, is because that underlying emotion, the drive behind the behaviour has not been addressed, the problem resurfaces again, often in a different form, or a more overtly aggressive form (a bite rather than a growl – as the dog has now learnt they can’t growl!).
Forming new behaviour patterns means forming new connections in the brain. It is all about neuroplasticity which is where the science can get quite nitty gritty! Randomly, Stephen Bartlett – one of the TV Dragons has done some great podcasts on this recently. You can listen to one of them here in his Diary of a CEO podcast, if you would like more of the science!
However, for those of you who just want the short hand, the European Journal of Psychology found it takes 18 days – 254 days to form a new habit. To get that new behaviour to be automatic which is what we want in our pet dogs – for them to just do it without us having to ask them, it takes on average 66 days. This may take longer, if your dog has been performing the old, undesirable or “problematic” behaviour for a prolonged period of time. This is a reason why I can get frustrated if a vet refers a dog to me in July of one year and then I don’t get a booking from the client until May of the following year! All that time the “problem” behaviour has been allowed to continue, the connections in the dog’s brain have got stronger, and it will make it harder for us to make adequate behaviour change to a level where, dog and dog parent are happy with the outcome! More often than not, the behaviour has actually deteriorated and gotten “worse” so please seek support sooner rather than later for your dog’s problem behaviour.
It is even harder to break a habit if the old habit is enjoyable. Behaviours that release dopamine in the brain actually strengthen the habit and make it more likely that the dog (or you!) will do it again. So if your dog is enjoying what they are doing and they may well be! Then it’s going to take even longer for you to change it. I saw this in a very recent case with a small Maltese cross who barked relentlessly at the TV. His body language was confident, and happy! His behaviour did not stem from fear or anxiety in this situation, he was having a great time barking at the TV, perhaps in his mind causing the small fluffy animals on the screen to run away (although in reality that advert / episode had just ended)!
I am not telling you this to put you off signing up for training, but to manage your expectations. When you contact an accredited, trainer or behaviourist for help you need to be realistic and if you feel like your training isn’t working and you are ready to through in the towel, before you start Googling and trying 101 new things that you have seen on social media to tackle the problem, ask yourself this: have you actually put in the time, effort and dedication required to change your dogs behaviour using the current method?
Often the reality is no….. which is why I have added a new resource to the Member’s Area of the Nose to Trail website, a dog training diary. This simple tool is there to help my clients to really look at how dedicated they are to their training. Are they really putting in the time and effort required to see change in their dog’s problem behaviour? Or, are they making endless excuses as to why they haven’t trained that day?
If you would like access to this resource then you can join the Member’s Area for as little as £25 a month right now. Just click this link: Instant Access Resources (nosetotrail.co.uk)
Alternatively if you are struggling with an established behaviour problem and your vet has recommended that you find an APBC registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist to support you, then take a look at the Behaviour page to find out about the process of becoming a behaviour case client for Nose to Trail.
I hope you find this blog helpful and thought provoking. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future blog posts, pleas do email info@nosetotrail.co.uk
Thank you – Rachel, Rico & Maisy