Complacency leads to problems with Enzo the Italian Spinone

I see a lot of complacency in owners who tolerate all kinds of behaviour from their dogs. A good example of this is the lesson I had with Enzo, an Italian Spinone. These are big and powerful gundogs and the owners have had the breed before. However, Enzo is proving challenging; at 18 months old he’s a heavy set dog, bred for show rather than working. He pulls on the lead, has poor recall and is slow to act on any command.

Complacency with this kind of behaviour will get you nowhere. Unfortunately, the owners have been badly advised and told to praise the good and never chastise the dog or correct bad behaviour. Enzo is praised even if he takes him five minutes to sit. The owners are reluctant to use a short snap on the lead to correct him but think it’s fine for this powerful Italian Spinone to pull them all over the place. Not enough time has been spent in training and the result is a very head strong dog.

We had a good lesson with Enzo yesterday. However, when he was put in the car at the end of the session, he turned on his owner and went to bite his arm. The owner excused this as mouthing but as I pointed out, what if that had been a child? Don’t be complacent with your dog’s bad behaviour. Quick correction builds firm boundaries and forms a bond for future training.

Posted: April 17, 2019