An Engaged Student – What Influences a Dog’s Motivation to Work with Its Handler? part 1.

Engaged Student – What Can Influence a Dog's Motivation to Work with Its Handler?

With a massive majority in the last comment poll for the #InDepth series, the topic of... motivation won! And I’d be absolutely thrilled because I love working on these aspects of life and work with dogs. For the past few years, I've been running workshops on this topic (which really keep me motivated to keep going 🥰)... if it weren't for the fact that I believe summarizing this subject in ten points for a Facebook post is practically impossible 🧐. But well... since I managed to write something meaningful about the trendy relationship topic, and you liked it, I WILL GIVE IT A SHOT!! 💪 But I kindly ask you to take this with a large margin… I love these motivation workshops, partly because when I was in the middle of it and doing a ton of them back-to-back for several months, I thought, "Okay, here we go again, another same old problems with dogs, let's follow the usual script!" And then what happens? Well, you get a little flick on the forehead and a reminder that what worked for the previous 9 dogs didn't work for the 10th one. Or you say the same thing you always say, but someone understood it totally differently. And so it goes. I think that's why I enjoy this topic so much – because I haven't managed to get bored with it or fall into a routine yet. 🙂

And also… I think it's worth mentioning, as an introduction, what activities I do with my dogs and what dogs I like, because that strongly influences the methods I use and the type of work I strive for 🙃. As you probably know (or can check), I've been training my dogs in dog frisbee and agility for many years. These are amazing dog sports, both of which I hold so dearly that I’ve been unable to give up either of them for years 🤣. However, it's important to note that these are high-energy sports for the dogs. The dog should be joyful, fast, dynamic, and give 100%, while simultaneously responding to the slightest gesture or word from the handler. That's why I love dogs who radiate joy in their work, who work independently of distractions, and put their whole heart into it. At the same time, I emphasize balance in their daily lives, knowing when it's time to sleep and rest, and when it's time for some fun. I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression that all I do with my dogs is constantly hype them up. I will talk about the "engaged student," so I’ll focus on motivation to work and collaborate with the handler.

That’s enough of a lengthy introduction! Let's get to the specifics 💪

1. For a dog to work happily with you, it needs to care about something.

Sounds logical, right? And we all know this, it's written everywhere, so we go to training loaded with food and toys. The pockets are overflowing with all these furs and cushions, and choosing the right pouch to fit this mountain of ultra-expensive treats (of course, preservative-free and with an amazing ingredient list!!!) took us several evenings. So, what happens? Nothing. The dog doesn't know how much you spent on all that gear. 😅 But the dog certainly knows and feels how much work and energy you’ve put into BUILDING the food or toy motivation. It will sense exactly how much energy you’ve invested in learning about the dog’s needs, the language it uses to communicate with you, and the training methods or rewarding techniques. And I hate to break it to you, but in most difficult cases, buying better sausages won’t be enough 😉. So instead of investing in more expensive toys on rainbow ropes and treats that cost more than high-quality beef, maybe think about a lesson or workshop with a good trainer? 🤓 Believe me, your dog will thank you when you learn to read its signals and reward it in a way it actually wants. Then you have a chance to work towards a great "work-for-human" relationship, but that’s something you’ll need to earn (and then reward with something the dog cares about 🥳).

2. For a dog to work happily with you, you must respect its needs.

I return to this often because I believe it’s key to improving the dog’s work and its relationship with the handler. You need to get to know your dog and its needs. If you don’t pay attention to this, I’m afraid that sooner or later, the situation will force you to. Why? Because, for example, not fulfilling the dog’s basic life needs blocks access to the higher needs, which you often want to address in training. The first examples that come to mind are dogs that are under huge stress and don’t want to play, or sometimes even eat! Their need for safety is so disrupted that the last thing they’re thinking about is play! Even not being able to quietly fulfill physiological needs is often a source of distractions or frustration for the dog. 😓 Furthermore, the breed of dog you have will largely determine its needs, and you, as handlers, need to be aware of them. For example, I often use satisfying these natural needs as a "environmental reward" to strengthen the training process, sometimes it’s a "jackpot" at the end. For a hunting dog, I might allow the dog to "sniff" the work area early on in training, and eventually allow it only after the command "end" as an additional reward. If it's a dog with a "killer instinct" and a closed hunting chain, I let it "kill" our toy after the game. If it’s a “possessive” type and has a strong need to carry objects in its mouth, it will bring its prize to the house or crate after training 🙂 There are many examples… all of them depend on recognizing the dog’s needs!!!

3. For a dog to work happily with you, it needs to feel good.

I know you might not expect this in a post about motivation, but I’ve been "burned" too many times not to mention the health aspect. My rule is that if we’ve been working on motivation with a dog for a long time, putting in a lot of energy and trying various methods (often consulting with other trainers), and we still don’t see results... I send the dog for tests. And it’s not enough to just go to the vet, because there they might say everything is fine. I send them to specialists and arrange a physiotherapy visit, and after thorough diagnostics, we get back to work. Yes, it’s happened several times that we’ve "found" a health issue, and removing that problem also "healed" the dog’s motivation 🙂. For example, dogs adopted with old severe fractures, unstable patellas, hip dysplasia, or heart issues. I also believe that if you can afford new toys for your dog, seminars, workshops, and other wonders, you should also afford medical tests (which can be very expensive and often involve travel to another city). I fully respect the variety of life situations and lack of financial means to fund such "luxuries" like a trip to the vet across the country, but… in that case, you can’t expect miracles from your dog. Instead, stay at a level that’s comfortable for the dog, which often means giving up dog sports or choosing a sport that suits the dog better.

4. For Your Dog to Want to Work with You, You Must Communicate with Them

COMMUNICATION. Here we are again, talking about communication! This time, I mean both a clearly defined set of tools for training communication and non-verbal dog communication (e.g., what signals your dog might send when they're stressed). You need to invest energy and time into this. For every command I introduce to my dogs, I "add" a definition. For example, if I want to reward my dog with food from the bowl and I say, "Okay, bowl," it means "eat the food from the bowl and then turn back to me immediately after finishing, we continue working." If I say, "Okay, bowl, END," it means "eat the food from the bowl, and then you can do whatever you want—this is the end of the training session, you get a break for your doggie business." 🤗 If we're playing with a toy and I say, "Give it," it means "bring it to my hand as quickly as possible and leave it there," and if I say, "Give it to me," it means "hurry up, bring me the toy, we’re still playing, you don’t have to drop it, we’ll tug!" Clear definitions, right? But if you don't have a clear definition in your mind, how do you plan to communicate it to your dog? Would you want to learn from an incompetent teacher in school or college? 🤓

✅ 5. For Your Dog to Want to Work with You, You Need to Stick to Clear and Understandable Rules

Dog handlers who struggle with motivation often let their dogs off the hook. "Poor thing, he must be tired," they think, "He’s in a bad mood today," "I probably woke him up from a bad phase of sleep," "It's 17°C today, but he only works until 15.5°C," or... (insert any excuse here 😎). This is completely understandable because we love our dogs so much that we don’t want to be harsh or make them work beyond their limits. The problem is that dogs like consistency and clear rules 🙂 When their life has clear rules, high motivation, and their handler is the center of their world, believe me, they can tolerate quite a bit of discomfort... ‼️ I am absolutely not a fan of overworking dogs, but the energy you use to justify the dog’s behavior, use it to... PLAN THE TRAINING SESSION.

That means, during the motivation-building phase, don’t bring a tired dog, one who’s just been woken from a bad sleep phase, or one who’s training during the hottest part of the day 😉 If you plan the session well in terms of environment and training criteria, you’ll eventually be able to teach the dog to work regardless of conditions. But that will come later 🙂 When I was teaching Bułka how to retrieve a toy (and believe me, this was a skill I was REALLY focused on and approached ideologically 💪), I would purposely wake up early in the summer and go out with her alone to the dewy grass in the early morning sunlight, knowing that later there would be no chance for a successful session. At that time, I was running camps and in the midst of a work marathon, but my puppy NEEDED COMFORTABLE conditions for her sessions, and that’s what I gave her. A year later, she was retrieving a frisbee at a frisbee competition, no matter the time of day or distractions 🥰 And thanks to all those adjustments around the training sessions, I could clearly enforce the rules during the sessions themselves!