February/March 09

Training with the Pros
Making the Most of an Oops
by John Dahl

e can’t escape mistakes, but we can avoid compounding them. Owing to the variable nature of dogs – concerning their talent, quickness to learn, ability to retain, tractability, and drive – mistakes in our training are bound to happen. Methodical, step-by-step procedures help to reduce big problems but are not proof against the stumbling blocks we will encounter along the way. When these misjudgments occur, we need to find ways to ameliorate their effects, as well as figure out how to turn information derived from the event into a productive training tool.

Introducing lessons prematurely is one of the surest ways to cause slip-ups, and this applies to nearly every step of training. Of course, we would all love to work with prospects that do everything on schedule and retain each lesson more or less permanently, but this is rarely the case. Without trying to list more than a tiny fraction of the problems that can arise from “starting too early,” let me mention a few.

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