Dog obedience and training > Information > Passive and active dog training techniques

Passive and active dog training techniques

By Ty Brown

If you are a dog owner, whether you like it or not, you are also a dog trainer. You may not know how to train a dog, you may not understand dog behavior, but everything you do has an effect on your dog’s behavior. That means that everything you do to, with, or around your dog is also training your dog.

I recently received a call from a prospective client. She complained that her dog would not use the dog door and instead went to the bathroom on the floor in the house. “My dumb dog just doesn’t get it!” She told me. After asking her a few more questions I soon responded that it wasn’t her dog that ‘didn’t get it’. She, the owner, didn’t get it. She was allowing the dog to roam free in the house while she was away at work. Furthermore, she had actually trained her dog to go the bathroom on the floor. Well, that confused her. “Why would I train my dog to go to the bathroom on the floor? I hate it when she does that.” My response was to teach her about passive and active dog training.

Dogs do what comes naturally to them. Dogs naturally pee, poop, jump, chew, bark, and run around crazy. That is what a dog does. If you, the dog owner, wish to modify, change, or get rid or any of those behaviors it is your job to communicate that to your dog in a way that makes sense to him or her. If you are attempting to communicate those ideas in a way that makes sense only to you, you won’t get too far in your dog training efforts.

Most dog owners, I have found, employ almost entirely passive dog training efforts. For example, when they bring home the puppy for the first time they allow the dog to run around the house. Well, what is puppy going to do? He will likely pee, poop, jump, chew, bark, and run around crazy. Why wouldn’t he? His owner, in giving him freedom around the house, is basically allowing those behaviors to happen. His owner is training the dog passively i.e. simply allowing the dog to make his own choices. The more the dog makes his own choices the more his naughty behaviors become long term habits. When the dog makes his own choices he will typically choose something that is in contrary to what the dog owner wants. If the dog owner wants the dog to go to the bathroom outside, sit when told to sit, not chew his shoes, and be calm in the house then the dog owner must employ active dog training methods and techniques.

Active dog training techniques are simply putting yourself in a position to control dog behavior. If you control your dog’s behavior you are the one in charge of whether or not the dog does naughty behavior or good behavior.

So how do you actively control behavior? There are numerous ways. What it boils down to is keeping the dog with you, in a crate or kennel, or in a position such that if he decides to do something wrong you can do something about it. Every time your dog does something wrong and you aren’t able to address it, you are training your dog. You are passively training him to do something wrong. Do this over and over and now you’ve got a dog who jumps on people, pees in the house, chews your sofa, and performs other negative behaviors.

Be an active dog trainer and both you and your dog will be much happier.