Just a few weeks ago I have been verbally attacked on Facebook for the wording I use to describe our group classes. I say, “Group Obedience Classes.” However, a person who attacked me had strong feelings about the word “Obedience.” They accused me of false advertising and of tricking people into taking classes that are far more advanced than the description suggests, because “Obedience” is a sport, not “puppy socialization” for secular pet people.
I was in a good mood that day, so I did try to reason and to explain that the word “obedience” simply means that we teach dogs to “obey,” which may or may not be for competitive purposes.
My proponent lashed out and said that I was being a smart-ass, and that if I do not know the difference between “socialization” and “obedience” then I am an incompetent trainer. To my humorous attempt to cool down a rising argument by asking, “Are you afraid I will teach you too much?” (with a smiley face!) that person reacted in an impolite and nasty way, for which they were blocked by a group admin.
See, I suck at internet arguments. I really do. However, this encounter taught me something very important, at which I was trying to point my finger for a while but could not find the right words.
It is firmly instilled in the imagination of many pet owners that “professional” training is somehow different from “pet” training, and that a regular John Doe who is not a dog trainer, cannot aspire to be a part of anything “professional.” They should, instead, take a course, the title of which has no professional ambition.
The big companies feed on this myth, and you will often see vague and generic training advertisements, such as “Puppy Socialization,” “Beginner Training,” or “Manners” classes. Think about the following: what does this even mean? Does it mean that you will take your puppy to interact with other puppies? What skills does “beginner training” cover? What manners will your “Manners” course teach?
It goes further than that. You will often see the dogs being divided into “levels” by age. I can see how it makes sense to keep all young puppies in one group (although I do not find it useful), but there is really no point of keeping two-year-old dogs apart from three-year-old ones. It is a marketing trick which counts on people’s tendency to think about their dogs as their children, and for children such an age division does make sense.
The reality is that all dog sports and dog “professions,” whether such a dog is raised to be a detection dog, a SWAT member, a search-and-rescue dog, or a beloved couch potato of a pet, begin with one single thing: Obedience. Obedience is a solid foundation on which all further skills are built, and pet obedience is no different than military obedience in terms of the training process.
We all start by establishing a solid relationship with the dog and by convincing them that working for you and with you is great. We do it by teaching simple everyday skills, such as recall, sits and downs, and heeling. While we are working on that, we teach the dog to handle itself in different situations and we guide them through different life experiences.
Once this basic understanding of work=gratification is set, and the dog reliably performs several basic skills, we can move on to the countless areas that might or might not fall into the “professional” or “sport” category. Regardless of what we do after, by this point we have an obedient dog. A dog who listens to us, looks at us, and finds pleasure in working with us. Isn’t this what all dog owners ultimately desire?
Whether you are planning to teach your dog a high-step heel, a flashy retrieve, or mean loose-leash walking skills, it all starts the same. Therefore, there simply cannot be “professional” or “pet” obedience. Recall is recall. Sit is sit. Heel is heel.
You know what truly distinguishes Competitive Obedience from Pet Obedience though? It is your own dedication and your desire and ability to invest time in your relationship with the dog. If all you want is loose leash walking, then you fall into a “pet” category. If you aspire to teach retrieves, jumps, and off-leash heeling, which obviously requires more time and energy, then you are in a “competitive” category.
However, people should not be sold classes that place them into a category by default. This is not right.
If someone tells you otherwise or is trying to sell you “Socialization Classes” because you are a newbie, you are either being lied to, or the seller has no clue what they are doing.
Saying that “Obedience” is only for professionals is like saying that math is only for those who will for sure become physicists. The truth is, every person needs some math, and every dog needs some obedience to be able to peacefully coexist with their humans.
Do not let the wording mislead you. Obedience is obedience—not “Puppy Socialization” or “Beginner Course.” Anything called differently should be a red flag, not vice versa.