The Dog Scout
Way
The Dog Scout Way
encompasses so much!
It is the basis of the Dog Scouts organization and covers all
the stuff that we, as “the smart end of the leash” need to
know.
The Dog Scout Way is a way
of life. This
can be better understood by working with a troop and/or
Scoutmaster, attending a camp or mini camp and/or by learning and
practicing the items you need to know for the Dog Scout
certification.
You understand that the
use of the term “parent” has been used to describe you as
the dog’s handler, owner, caretaker, etc. because DSA defines
parent as: A person who
raises, nurtures, loves, provides for, teaches and protects a
younger being so that he or she can become a welcome and productive
member of society. This
comprises all
the tasks involved in raising a youngster to be an independent
adult. You know that
parenting begins even before the youngster is born or adopted, it is
a part of the relationship within a family and it is something that
lasts a lifetime.
You understand that many people who share their lives with
dogs have the same level of bond with their dogs as most people have
with their human children.
While it is understood that as far as the law is concerned,
dogs are considered property, you feel the relationship is much
greater than that of object and property owner. Being a responsible dog
owner involves parenting.
As a Dog Scout parent, we
hope you have learned how to be the “thinking” end of the leash.
You give your dog the
attention and protection he deserves, and you are not afraid to tell
another person to get his or her dog back from your dog if your dog
gets uncomfortable. You
handle any situations that arise so that your dog doesn’t have
to. That’s the covenant
you have with your dog. You are aware of the environment and the
changing situations around your dog. You know your dog well enough
to know what types of situations will make your dog nervous.
You do everything you can to manage, control or avoid those types of
situations. When your dog sees that he or she no longer has to
be ‘on guard’ for developing situations (because you have taken on
that job), the dog will be able to relax more and will be less
reactive.
You have learned to have
your dog look at you on cue, which alone can get you out of
potentially sticky situations. When your dog is looking at
you, he is not making direct eye contact with another dog
(a threat in dog language.) It also appears to other dogs as
if your dog is ‘looking away,’ which is a calming signal and will
help other dogs around you be less reactive with your dog. A
dog that is paying attention to you is not ‘surfing the environment’
for better and more interesting things. He knows that you are
the giver of wonderful things and that his good behavior is what
gets him access to the smells, sights and interaction in the
environment. By making the dog responsible for his own behavior
management, you have to do less asking for good behavior (sit, don’t
pull, leave it, don’t jump on that, etc.), which gives you more time
to just enjoy your dog and be proud of how smart he or she is.
You know how to conduct
yourself in public. You are a good representative of a responsible
dog parent. You clean up any messes your dog leaves behind
(feces, urine, vomit, hair, half chewed rawhides, etc.) so that you
will not be the cause of a ban on dogs (in a hotel, park, or other
public place.) You obey
all laws and rules regarding your dog and keep them on leash or
under excellent verbal control to keep them safe. You don’t allow
your dog to harass people or interfere with their right to enjoy a
public place. You set a good example that shows the joys of
the human-canine bond. Your dog is under control and well
behaved, showing people what is possible with positive
training. You know that if we, as dog parents, are to keep
from losing any more privileges, we must act responsibly, and must
lead by example in our communities. We must always pick up our
own dog’s waste, and when possible, pick up a few extras to keep dog
parents from getting a bad reputation because of a few irresponsible
people.
You treat your dog with
kindness, knowing that while he or she may not be “perfect,” your
dog is PERFECT at being a dog.
Unlike Pinocchio, your dog will not magically wake up one
morning a “real boy.”
He will always be a dog, and we, as parents, have to respect
the differences in our species. You have taken it upon
yourself to learn as much as possible about those differences and
how to bridge the communication gaps.
You know that punishment
creates fear, and learning is difficult or impossible where there is
fear. Your dog is not
afraid to offer behaviors, worried that he might be “wrong” and get
punished. I hope you
both have learned that “wrong” is not “bad,” it is only information,
and nothing to be afraid of. If incorrect behavior does not
get rewarded, it makes the correct behavior (that does get rewarded)
more clear to the dog. Punishment is not needed for the dog to
understand when he has made the ‘wrong’ choice.
As a person, I hope you also
realize that being wrong is just feedback from your universe, and
that success can often be a 1000-step process, with many wrong
answers and dead-ends along the way. When Thomas Edison created
the light bulb, it is said that he had 1000 trials that ended in no
light bulb. A reporter asked him if he felt like a failure
because he had ‘failed’ 1000 times. Edison replied that he was
not a failure, he created the light bulb, it was just a 1000 step
process. Don’t be discouraged if a behavior you want to teach
your dog becomes a 1000 step process, there is a light at the end of
that tunnel. As a dog trainer, you must have a lot of patience
and be willing to keep trying, even when you are not seeing instant
results.
You realize that dogs will
work better for positive reinforcement, and that the problem with
punishment training is that you must always have the threat of
punishment looming over your dog’s head to get him to perform. He will never do what you
ask because he “wants” to—he is only performing to escape a
punishment. You also
know that punishment inhibits ALL behaviors, so if you punish for
one behavior, the dog will be afraid to perform any behaviors for
fear it will result in punishment. You know that for this
reason, crossover dogs will take longer to learn to trust that you
will not punish them.
(Note- crossover dogs are dogs that started their training
with a punishment based training method, but now have a trainer that
uses all positive training.)
Knowing what you now know,
we hope you will go home with this information and spread it like a
good "disease", infecting everyone everywhere you go with
responsible dog parenting and positive training methods. Like a pebble dropping into
the water, the ripples reach out far from the original point of
entry and touch others along the way. We hope you will become
involved in community service and public education in the
communities where you live, because you WILL have an impact on those
around you, even if it is just by letting people observe the joy of
having a well-mannered dog and being a responsible parent. That is the Dog Scout
Way.
www.DogScouts.org
Copyright © Dog
Scouts of America
5040 Nestel Road
St. Helen, MI
48656
