We hear people all the time say “he/she is a good dog”. Any dog could be a good dog to someone because it is so subjective. When speaking to clients at the beginning of an appointment, after they are telling me everything they don’t like about their dog, about 99% of the time they finish with but “he/she is a good dog”. When that’s said what I hear is “I love my dog”. Of course we love any dog that lays quietly next to us, and most do. For the first time I am going to explain what a “good dog” is to me and how dogs become good.
There are three limitations to how “good” a dog can be. The first is the client. The second dog. The last is how much time someone want’s spend to attain their definition of good. Their definition of good changes within a few minutes of the first session because we unlock the dog’s ability, once they see what is possible they raise their mental bar. All dogs are capable of things that their owners could never imagine.
As. a rule I don’t classify a dog as good or bad, I classify them as stable or unstable. I refer to a stable dog as a balanced and relaxed canine or a BARC. My goal with any dog is to develop them into a BARC. Anytime I work with a new dog this is my goal, and I always start with that in mind, not to just fix the maladaptive behaviors we were called for. The reason is that had this been the case from the beginning the maladaptive behaviors would not have occurred. Just like us, there is no way for them to achieve goals if they were never set. What follows is a pretty exhaustive list of what a “good dog” based on BARC looks like to me and anyone who is judging someone else’s dog.
A BARC should-
- Focus on the handler regardless of distractions
- Calmly waits for lead to be put on
- Does not attempt to go in/out door in front of handler
- Walks on a loose leash
- No bolting out the door
- No bolting on lead
- No chasing other animals
- No chasing vehicles/bikes/skateboards
- No human aggression
- No whining
- No obsessive licking
- No hyperactivity
- No inappropriate chewing
- No dog aggression
- No counter surfing
- No getting into garbage
- No barging past people on stairs or in doorways
- Does not bark at other dogs or people while on leash
- Will stay indefinitely no matter the environment
- Comes when called no matter the environment
- No inappropriate or excessive barking
- No food/water/space/toy/attention aggression
- Does not jump on people
- Does not herd people
- Does not take food with out permission no matter the environment
- Calmly enters and exits vehicles
- Calmly enters and exits structures
- Does not pester for attention
- Does not beg for food
Feel free to print this out and use it as a report card for you dog. You may find out that they are better than what you have given them credit before.
You with notice that most things on the list are things not to do, not things you want them to do. Our process is geared towards consistently marking wanted and unwanted behaviors to set rules, boundaries, and limitations on your dog. No matter what behavior we were called into work one we will be constantly shaping all these behaviors. We have use no verbal corrections, and only talk to the dog when giving commands and praise. This way the dog always pays attention to verbalization and values it.
It’s up to the owner just how “good” they want their dog to be. Please give me suggestions to things that you think should be added to the list.