Eastside Tails

Too Much Information!

Are you confused by the scale of accessible training information in popular media?

We never had it so good

Information. It used to be just the internet, DVDs (remember them?) and of course books. Now we have social media, forums, podcasts, YouTube videos, and recently AI. The wealth of information available to us all is frankly staggering. And in some ways, it should be welcomed, for obvious reasons. In terms of specific areas like dog training, the same thing applies. There are some great trainers out there for advice, and even AI (I have been testing!) can make some helpful suggestions. But when does information become too much information, a hinderance rather than a help? How do we know what is good or bad information?

Information or knowledge?

For me knowledge is applied information. It’s one thing to know how to teach your dog ten different cues, but is their application appropriate for the dog in front of you? Is the way they can be taught beneficial to the dog’s general well-being, or is it aversive punishment in disguise? How do you know if the trainer on the telly or YouTube actually advocates violence against dogs? Some of the more famous unapologetically do so. Others promote psychological violence which is insidious and can also have devasting consequences. Even for professionals, it can be difficult to make informed decisions about these things. What is appropriate, what is actually not force-free, and so on? Confused? Read on!

The Dog in front of you

I was once on a practical course with the IMDT (Institute of Modern Dog Trainers). One of the best things I truly grasped was to learn from the dog in front of you. We studied lots of techniques for teaching different things, of course. But then we applied them individually in group settings with lots of different dogs. My instructor would observe and encourage me to adapt to how a particular dog was coping or not coping with something. Essentially I was learning to have the confidence to think on my feet. I had the know-how of doing a technique, but shaping it for a specific dog was taking it to another level.

Sure, you can find a Look At Me or a Stay technique on YouTube. Sounds good! Looks easy! But would you know that for a passively anxious dog, these seemingly benign things which may involve intense eye contact or a raised hand, can have awful consequences? Or your dog might be easily distracted, or a little reactive, perhaps. That’s not the one in the trainer video! One-size-fits-all learning? I don’t think so.

Wrong or conflicting information

Many people get in touch with me who actually have a good grasp of dog training. They may have read a lot of books or follow a favourite trainer on social media. I love that. I read and follow trainers too, just like anyone else. They might have taught their dog something using a very precise and “correct” technique. But often they are getting in touch with me because it isn’t really working.

This could be because out of the 5 ways we can teach a Down, they unwittingly picked the sixth one which I would never succeed with either. Because sometimes advice can simply be bad. Wrong. But how were they to know? Or it could be for a more subtle reason. The “Look” technique might be confusing their dog with an eye contact exercise they are also doing which is very similar (but actually very different). Here the information is conflicting. And this can be the hardest thing to realise if you are training on your own.

Good information, but how do we apply it?

When we are trying to address a behaviour, we are usually trying to re-shape that behaviour on an emotional level. To do this, we need to be very careful about diagnosing why your dog is barking, for instance, because an incorrect diagnosis will lead down us down the wrong path. Can AI or a video tip do this? Not really, because we are talking about the dog in front of you.

Or another way is to introduce an alternative behaviour, often by stringing together a sequence of “obedience” cues that form part of our strategy. But which cues are appropriate for your dog? And in which order? I am not generally a fan of a sit and a spin after a recall, but with certain dogs this might be a great idea to keep the engagement with you that little bit longer.

And it’s one thing for a dog to know how to make the right choice when asked to do six different things (and it looks impressive, sure). But in everyday life that dog may be struggling to cope with pretty much everything. What we might need here is guidance on how we apply all these amazing things we know. Before our brains explode with too much information! It’s all about the dog in front of you.

How trainers help

Professional trainers should be able to cut through the noise of too much information, and see truly the human and the dog in front of them. It’s their job. What might apply for one dog certainly won’t apply for another, even if we are trying to address a similar problem on the surface.

And sometimes it’s just a case of overthinking things. Our brains go into overdrive with too much information.

Training is a conversation

If you are going it alone, there is a lot of information at your fingertips about what to do to start training in something. But what happens next? Is your dog not understanding what you are trying to teach, or are they reacting differently from what the training manual says they should do? It’s always about the next step, it’s about adapting like I had to on that course. And to know what comes next. So let’s start the conversation!