Your relationship with your dog and training

Just interested in peoples thoughts.

I was out on a Social walk today with our local Vets, and was talking to a guy who has 2 Border terriers. I know him quite well now as he comes training.

He brought the younger one along last year. He was concerned as it was nipping other dogs when he was greeting them (Getting very OTT and nipping faces).

His previous dog (also a BT) was nothing like this and a very chilled out dog.

He started clickering and doing lots of basic obedience, he has now moved on to doing Rally (very well) and just recently started agility.
These dogs get walked for a couple of hours everyday - off and on lead, different areas. Lots of stimulation in lots of ways.

However, the man was talking today about the different relationship he has with the younger one, and he puts this down to the training. He cannot believe how much more intense that relationship is, how responsive the dog is and the understanding that they have developed together.
I have loved watching them - it is very obvious the time he has put into the dog, each week and each new exercise he goes away and works at very hard (it is quite humbling actually!!)

I have never thought about how much the training effects my relationship with my dogs - as it is something I just do, I have never analysed it.

So - after all my ramblings - do you feel your relationship with your dog has changed through training? And is that something you see for the better?

Cannot say, I start training all my dogs at 7 weeks............. so they know nothing else nor do I.

- I have always trained mine from the time I have got them...although only twice had the luxury of that young

It was interesting hearing it from his perspective - he had done basic 'pet' stuff with the previous one, but interesting to hear his take on it.

Training is all about communication, relationships are all about communication.

Bad training is poor communication, i.e the dog doesn't not understand, or do, what you are aiming to achieve resulting potential fear, frustration, aggression, and other emotions, on both sides, that work against trust, affection and bonding and that disrupt achieving/maintaining a good relationship.

Good training, i.e. getting the result you want, including the dog being happy to comply, is about good communication and leads to mutual enjoyment, satisfaction, trust, understanding and other emotions and experiences conducive to strengthening a good, positive, mutually rewarding relationship.

Accordingly, imo, I cannot see how training, good or bad, would not affect/influence one's relationship with one's dog?

Not forgetting that training is constantly occuring, for good or bad, through learned experiences, whether or not one is intending it to.

I was thinking more along the lines of Formal training, as opposed to what you expect from a dog who lives with you.

I rewrote the heading several times - I could not get it to say what I wanted to in a short sentence!!

Formal training? Using your context with the vet, would that mean classes, homework, etc? In that case, is that giving the dog a 'job' as such, keeping its brain working and its appetite for learning going - and as a result creating a stronger bond?

Tis not the Vet - just someone who goes on the walks and has 2 dogs.

Surely whether formal or informal training it is still about communication and co operation?

IME the method(s) chosen/employed to achieve formal training influence the results, not least because they also influence the style of relationship being forged so yes, I would expect changes in training to change the relationship.

There is also the consideration of someone's view of their dog changing as they achieve more with it, in terms of their appreciation of what it is capable of, in terms of their increased investment in it (emotionally, time wise, possible financially, increased commitment level etc), in terms of increased understanding and in term so pride of ownership as the dog's abilities build. Also all factors that influence a relationship.

To be honest it had never occurred to me that someone's relationship with their dog wouldn't change if they changed their training, in either direction, positively or negatively.

I'm sure it does - It was just interesting to hear him trying to analyse why he had such a different relationship with his second dog.

I see what you are trying to get at Tassle. I had both Flynn and Jed quite close together and so Flynn went through the training stages not long after Jed. At that time, my method of training was totally different to what it is now and alot harsher. Now i've started using a clicker and thinking more about the learning processes, I see a big difference.

Any future dogs I have will not be trained the same way my others were in the early days, it will be all about the clicker and trust rather than coercion and fear and so I expect to see a huge difference in my relationship with future dogs.

I think thats natural anyway as you are always making mistakes and learning from them with each dog you train.