User:Differentiating Dog Training and Dog Behavior Management

People usually confuse dog training with managing dog behavior. While both of them are important and are often used together, they are two completely different things. Read on and know the distinction between these two terms.

Dog Training vs. Behavior Management: What is Dog Training?

Dog training involves teaching your dog something. This can be as easy as the basic commands or something more difficult like navigating an agility course. The most important part of dog training is that your dog learns to do something or to stop doing something. The following are the few things you can train a dog to do. Housebreaking a Puppy

• Basic commands, like sitting or staying

• Stop biting

• Stop relieving in the house

• Stop jumping

• Navigating an agility course

• Tricks, like rolling over and playing dead

There are so many things that you can train a dog to do. The one thing that these have in common is that the dog is learning something new.

Dog Training vs. Behavior Management: What is Dog Behavior Management?

Dog behavior management differs from dog training in that the dog does not learn anything. Rather, you are controlling things in their environment to prevent certain behaviors. In other words, you are not training a dog to behave in a certain way. Instead, you are managing the dog’s reaction to a stimulus. Below are a few ways people manage dog behavior.

• Putting a food aggressive dog in his crate during mealtime

• Using a head collar or harness to make walking a dog easier

• Isolating aggressive dogs from strangers

• Avoiding car rides for dogs afraid of cars

• Giving a dog a toy to play with to distract them from chewing the furniture

In all the above instances, note that the dog is not learning anything. The food aggressive dog will not stop growling over his food after eating in his crate, and the dog that is easy to walk on the harness will not start to heel at your side on a regular collar.

Dog behavior management and dog training are two different things, but they are not mutually exclusive. This is because behavior management is an important part of any dog training program. Dog behavior management is an essential tool in preventing unwanted behaviors until your dog has been trained to properly behave.