Why Dogs are like ovens, training can fail.... oh, and a dog Joke :-)

When I was 14 our home economics teacher told us all with a gleeful bright voice that next week we would all be doing baking. We had a set of instructions or method to follow, a list of ingredients to bring in and would be taking home our very own pineapple upside down cake!

Once my mum stopped laughing at the thought of me actually making something edible in the kitchen she helped me get everything I needed, and the following week I arrived ready and raring to go. Long story short the cake was pretty fabulous if you discount the extra crunch from the egg shell.

With my pride shining I decided to make one at home…. I did exactly the same things as I did in the school kitchen, even managed to keep most of the eggshell out but it was a total disaster.

The cake was hard and burnt on the outside, flat and uncooked in the middle. I tried again, same result.

Fortunately Mum had arrived home and wondered why the dog was covered in flour and there was a faint fog of smoke in the kitchen. Fortunately she for once was very understanding, and sat me down and explained that it doesn’t matter which chefs recipe you use, what method you use you need to adapt them to the oven you’re using. All ovens cook a little differently, never the same.

Dog Training books are like cookery books, step by step actions that should produce a certain result. Dogs though… well they are much more like ovens, lots of variation and therefore you’ll get a slightly different result in each one.

So whilst a rattle can may help one dog stop barking it could terrify another making the barking increase. Whilst using treats to distract or desensitise an aggression trigger can cure a behaviour but can encourage it in a different dog.

So don’t be downhearted if training hasn’t worked, ask your trainer for more options that work better for your dog and you. If they can’t find another trainer or…. Call me!

Now the joke….

After a talking sheepdog gets all the sheep in the pen, he reports back to the farmer: “All 40 accounted for.”

“But I only have 36 sheep,” says the farmer.

“I know,” says the sheepdog. “But I rounded them up.”

Happy 2019 everyone!