When deciding how to train a young dog, I consider the dog’s natural tendencies around arousal, the sports I am targeting, and the expectations of those sports. If you set a thinking foundation on a dog who’s already calm and your goal is a higher arousal sport, you are going to struggle. If you set a high arousal foundation on a high arousal dog destined for a thinking sport, you are also going to struggle. Take a moment to think about where you are trying to take your dog, and what you need to be most successful. You will always be balancing precision, arousal, speed, etc., but since dogs tend to revert to their foundation emotions under stress, you’ll want to think about these choices sooner rather than later.

 

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