Regardless of whether you have a new puppy or an older dog, it's never too late to start teaching your dog life skills.
What is a life skill?
Here's the definition we use at Positively: any skill that helps your dog thrive in the environment because she knows what to do in certain situations with or without being cued.
Life skills are learned behaviors that you can teach your dog that have a useful function. Simple skills like learning to "stand" and "touch" to more advanced ones like "come" and "settle," have real world applications that help dogs cope and builds a common language between you.
Why call it a 'life skill'?
Words matter. Especially in dog training.
The terminology we use when interacting with dogs serves as a marker for how we think about the dogs we love. Years ago, most people referred to these as 'commands', but the positive training largely moved away from that term because it implied too much of a one-way communication: "I'm the boss, and I'm telling you what you have to do now."
While we, as guardians, obviously need to be able to guide our dogs into doing (or not doing) things we need them to do both for our sake and their own, Positively believes that the conversation should go in both directions. The dog needs agency to let us know what they need as well.
Many trainers and dog lovers then began shifting to the word 'cue' instead of 'command', highlighting the concept that we were letting the dog know when we'd prefer they initiate a particular behavior. This was a positive change, but in our opinion, we felt it was important to go further in our dog/human interaction.
The evolution from the word 'cue' to the term 'life skill' signifies an important distinction in our communication with dogs. Rather than being the sole authority on what a dog should do, we prefer to listen to the dog's needs and wants while truly appreciating the dog's life experience.
This is not just woowoo stuff, either - science tells us that when we provide choice to dogs, they are better adjusted to the world we're asking them to live in. Plus, it's fun and deepens the bond between us and our dogs when we build true two-way communication with them.
So 'life skill' is more than just an arbitrary term. It's representative of the degree to which we believe we owe it to our dogs to include them in the conversation as much as possible.
What are examples of life skills?
- "Wait" is a valuable skill because it can be used before the front door is opened or before crossing a road, while "come" is a cue that allows your dog to be off-leash and return to you when you call her.
- Cues like "leave it" and "take it/drop it" can help prevent your dog from resource guarding by making the exchange of food and toys a game.
- Teaching a puppy to walk on a loose leash can help prevent leash pulling in the future.
Any dog can learn this way
- Find what motivates your dog! There is no such thing as a "stubborn" or "untrainable" dog – these are labels we put on dogs to explain canine behavior we find frustrating because our dogs are not 'listening' to us and doing what they're told.
- Make teaching fun! Treats, toys, and praise are common motivators when teaching skills.
- Teaching your dog fewer cue words and strengthening certain key responses will make it easier for her to learn. When you begin teaching a new cue, make sure you use her favorite rewards to motivate her and teach each cue in short ten-minute sessions a few times a day. When she is proficient you can begin using the cue she has learned in real-life situations.
- Every dog learns at a different pace, so be patient and make learning fun. Always finish each training session on a positive note and make your dog feel good with plenty of praise and even a brief play session.
Bottom line
Teaching your dog or puppy basic skills is important for general safety and is a great way to increase the bond and communication between you. But these skills are also the building blocks needed later in life to allow you to modify more serious and difficult-to-solve behavior issues like aggression or reactivity if they occur.
It's never too early or too late to begin teaching your dog skills she can use to navigate her world.
