Don’t kill your dog with kindness

In the past month a lot of my training lessons have started with a rant. I have clients who say they are looking for advice but then don’t follow through. Commitment to training and consistency with homework are the only ways to make progress with your dog. Inconsistency in training within a family can cause all sorts of problems, as my experience with Corby, the German Wirehaired Pointer, shows.

Corby has been attending lessons for a while now with father and son owners and responds well to training. However, when the dog gets home, mother and daughter spoil him and don’t follow through with his training. The result is slow progress. They decided to book him in for some residential training but, as with the Golden Retriever I blogged about recently, the owners were worried that he would be anxious and whine in my kennels environment.

It had been a few weeks since Corby’s last lesson when he was dropped off for his residential training. I could hardly believe the dog that arrived. He was vastly overweight – in fact, he was obese – weighing in at 34kg. The German Wirehaired Pointer is built for speed and should always been slim and agile; not Corby. If he was a human, his doctor would be seriously concerned. Apparently the mum and daughter had been ‘feeding him up’ before his residential stay with lots of treats and human food. In addition, Corby has now become so food orientated that he is stealing food too.

Since Corby arrived, I have put him on a serious diet and of course, residing with me, he is getting plenty of exercise. He has settled in really well and is happy in the kennels. These owners have been killing their dog with kindness; they don’t need constant treats and fuss, they need tough love. Inconsistency and overfeeding is cruel and so it’s down to me to get Corby back on the right track.

Posted: September 22, 2019