Management isn’t a Dirty Word

Between the ages of 15 and 21 I was a dancer with the Alabama ballet.

The company put on four professional productions a year that consisted of anywhere from 4 to, in the case of nutcracker performances, 25 performances per production.

The rest of the season was spent in rehearsals for these productions. This consisted of hour and a half long technique class and between five and six hours of rehearsal for whatever production we were preparing for five dats a week.

Think about the number of hours, we were practicing our techniques and choreography versus the number of hours we were on stage performing; that’s a lot of rehearsal for pretty limited stage time.

So what does all this have to do with dogs?

The word rehearsal.

The more something is rehearsed the better it gets.

This goes for ballet dancers, and for dogs.

This goes for behaviors we like to see and behaviors we don’t like to see.

Allow me to interject a new word here, management.

Implementing simple management techniques to help your dog from rehearsing behaviors you don’t want them to do is one of the fastest, easiest, and most effective ways of preventing unwanted behaviors. The less behavior is practiced the less you will see it.

Here are some examples:

Putting your shoes in a closet and closing the door instead of allowing your dog access to chew them.

Using a pen or a baby gate to limit your dog’s access to your kitchen counters or the table to prevent your dog from stealing food.

Using a gate across your front door to prevent your dog from practicing running out the front door when you get your DoorDash.

Using a long line when in an unfenced area with your dog to prevent them from practicing running away from you and chasing a deer while frantically chase after them, screaming their name while they have the time of their lives playing keep away from you.

By simply not giving your dog, the ability to rehearse the above behaviors, and any other behaviors you’re not interested in them performing, you will drastically reduce the likelihood of those behaviors being performed in the future, and here’s the kicker, even when the management is no longer implemented.

Do not underestimate the value of management.

Management should be your first line of defense, always, when dealing with an unwanted behavior.

What are your favorite management techniques to implement?

Sara Sokol is owner of Mr. Dog Training in Brunswick Maine; A positive reinforcement dog training facility, offering both virtual and in person classes, that has been voted best training in Maine for 9 years in a row.