Trust – An essential part to successful training

When it comes to any relationship, trust is an essential part of the best, healthiest most enjoyable relationships.  

But what does the word trust mean to the relationship you have with your dog?  Dictionary.com describes trust as

“the confident expectation of something”  

Trust results in a sense of security.  The confidence you feel for your dog and its actions will only build with a combination of prevention and training.  Those are things you have complete control over.  So no matter how naughty your dog is, the trust you feel in your dog can be obtained through training.

So from your dog’s perspective that would be the trust that you are not going to hurt them, get grumpy with them, behave in a predictable way etc.

Are you trustworthy?  Does your dog have confidence your actions will not cause pain or fear or that you will protect it from harm?  

No one can explain the concept of building a trusting relationship better than Dr. Susan Friedman, so enjoy her video and then come back to finish reading.

Creating a relationship in which your dog trusts you is also something you have control over but it might take some work.  You will have to work hard at times in which you are angry, stressed out or just do not want to be reasonable.  These are the times in which our actions are most likely to deteriorate.  If you are in a position in which you think you may blow it, take a break.   Give yourself a timeout.  You can do this by gently and without ceremony or emotion put your dog in a crate or another room.  And of course seek training to learn better techniques for putting “deposits into your trust account” and avoid having withdrawals from the account. 

Identify when are you most likely to loose it and betray your dog’s trust? 

I have to be extra careful when I am sleep deprived.  This is when I communicate less clearly, can be a bit grumpy and my less than charming self comes out.  By identifying when I need to be most careful, I can avoid situations that might cause a withdrawal.  

When are you most at risk of behaviors that will cause a withdrawal from the trust account to take place?