HOW FORCE DESTROYS THE TRUST PACT
There is no way to emotionally prepare your dog for the shock of being left with a trainer. For the dog who has spent the majority of his life at his owner’s side, building a world of trust and security, being dropped at the trainer’s and having the owner disappear is terrifying. He has no way of knowing if you will come back. He has no idea why he has (to his understanding) been abandoned. To a dog, this is like being ejected from the pack. It means he must have failed in some way, but he doesn’t know what he’s done wrong. This flies in the face of the pact you’ve had to this point and so the first strike is made to his foundation of trust the moment you turn and walk away.
Now granted, many dogs with a foundation of trust are left with trainers and sitters all the time. So, while this is terrifying at first, dogs, in their remarkable resilience, will quickly get over it, once you return. Thankfully, they have no concept of time, and so, even if you are gone for weeks, your dog can overcome the shock of being left behind every once in a while.
Compounding the problem and further undermining the dog’s sense of security, is the fact that nothing is the same. There is nothing the dog can cling to from his “secure world” in this strange new place. Not only are the physical surroundings different, but the sights, scents and sounds are different, as well. The schedule changes and the routine that kept pup’s life in happy order is now gone. Pup’s whole world is upside down and his foundation of trust is now cracking.
Some trainers may take pup out for a few trial runs to gauge pup’s temperament and drive. Others never touch pup until they are ready to go to work. Usually, a pup will sit in a kennel for several days before having any meaningful interaction. When pup finally does get out of the kennel, nothing he is expecting will happen. Pup may well be banking on some happy times fetching a bumper, but more often than not, he is in for a rude awakening. If there is any retrieving activity, it will be rote, demanding and business like. It will not be anything like the good ol’ days pup has stored up in his memory and desperately clinging to.
However, more likely than not, pup’s first foray at the trainer’s will be either obedience drills, or straight to the force table. Most trainers learn a system whereby everything, they believe, hinges on the force fetch. So nothing is done with a dog until it is force fetched. The belief is that once the dog has been through force fetch, it’s will – or spirit – will be broken, and the flaccid attitude that remains will be resigned and compliant. And so, this is likely where your pup will begin.
Many people don’t know what force fetch is, or what the process entails, but since this is where the disconnect occurs, we need to understand what pup goes through.
There is no way to emotionally prepare your dog for the shock of being left with a trainer. For the dog who has spent the majority of his life at his owner’s side, building a world of trust and security, being dropped at the trainer’s and having the owner disappear is terrifying. He has no way of knowing if you will come back. He has no idea why he has (to his understanding) been abandoned. To a dog, this is like being ejected from the pack. It means he must have failed in some way, but he doesn’t know what he’s done wrong. This flies in the face of the pact you’ve had to this point and so the first strike is made to his foundation of trust the moment you turn and walk away.
Now granted, many dogs with a foundation of trust are left with trainers and sitters all the time. So, while this is terrifying at first, dogs, in their remarkable resilience, will quickly get over it, once you return. Thankfully, they have no concept of time, and so, even if you are gone for weeks, your dog can overcome the shock of being left behind every once in a while.
Compounding the problem and further undermining the dog’s sense of security, is the fact that nothing is the same. There is nothing the dog can cling to from his “secure world” in this strange new place. Not only are the physical surroundings different, but the sights, scents and sounds are different, as well. The schedule changes and the routine that kept pup’s life in happy order is now gone. Pup’s whole world is upside down and his foundation of trust is now cracking.
Some trainers may take pup out for a few trial runs to gauge pup’s temperament and drive. Others never touch pup until they are ready to go to work. Usually, a pup will sit in a kennel for several days before having any meaningful interaction. When pup finally does get out of the kennel, nothing he is expecting will happen. Pup may well be banking on some happy times fetching a bumper, but more often than not, he is in for a rude awakening. If there is any retrieving activity, it will be rote, demanding and business like. It will not be anything like the good ol’ days pup has stored up in his memory and desperately clinging to.
However, more likely than not, pup’s first foray at the trainer’s will be either obedience drills, or straight to the force table. Most trainers learn a system whereby everything, they believe, hinges on the force fetch. So nothing is done with a dog until it is force fetched. The belief is that once the dog has been through force fetch, it’s will – or spirit – will be broken, and the flaccid attitude that remains will be resigned and compliant. And so, this is likely where your pup will begin.
Many people don’t know what force fetch is, or what the process entails, but since this is where the disconnect occurs, we need to understand what pup goes through.