While there are some great products out there that can help make it easier to train your dog if used properly, most of these are being overused and abused by pet owners who are looking for a “quick fix”.
Many of you won’t like what I am about to say but I promise you it is the truth. There are no quick fixes in dog training! You are dealing with a living, breathing, thinking animal and to modify their behavior takes time and patience, not $29.99 plus shipping and handling.
Most of these products only prevent the dog from performing the undesirable behavior, or simply don’t work at all. If all you do is prevent the behavior from happening, it never goes away, which means you become dependent on that device.
What’s wrong with that you ask? So what if I have to use this leash-walking thingie for the rest of his life, that’s fine, you say. Trust me, it gets old when you absolutely cannot bear the thought of going for a walk without it and all of a sudden it goes missing. You search the house in a frantic mad rush, And when you can’t find it you just buy another one, for another $29.99 plus S&H, because you can’t walk the dog without it.
Then what happens when your dog starts exhibiting other bad behaviors, and you turn to more “quick fixes”. Pretty soon you are dependent on his $30 leash walking thingie, that $5 bottle of gross tasting spray so he doesn’t chew on things, the $50 a month in potty pads because he never seemed to “get” potty training, and that $200 underground fence because he runs off every chance he gets!
The list goes on; you continue spending money and the result is never a trained dog. You live in constant anxiety over losing that leash walking thingie, or running out of potty pads, or even driving all over town looking for those precious little batteries for your underground fence.
Dont get me wrong, I love many of the products out there that can make training your dog easier, but remember that these are just “tools” to help you until your dog understands not to pull, or what to chew on, and learns to potty outside. Until you put in the time and effort to train your dog, he will never fully understand what you want and will never be fully trained.
So why not spend a lot less money and feel wonderful about your fully trained dog?