The Importance of Trust in Dog Training

It was a cold day in November, cold even by Northern Minnesota standards. A storm had rolled in the day prior and went through most of the night, producing a total of 8” of fresh snow. We were set up on a small lake that typically held a healthy number of divers during the migration. The set up was perfect, and the ducks were there. My yellow lab, Rusty, got the call this morning. Being the only dog for a blind full of shooters was nothing new to him, and he was up to the task. Now, Rusty was not gifted with a great cold water coat. He was better suited for upland hunting, but what he lacked in coat he made up for in desire. The first couple hours of the hunt went according to plan. Ducks were decoying well, and the hunters were doing their part. Rusty was dialed in, busting ice and picking up birds cleanly. Spending minimal time in the water so he could get reset for the next group. As the day progressed, the wind switched and increased in intensity. The ducks changed things up also, and not for the better. The shots went from feet down decoying birds, to passing shots at best. The length of retrieves also increased, with most birds being picked up 50-60 yards from shore. I could tell Rusty was cold, he was shivering but showed no signs of slowing. Under his Neoprene vest was still warm and mostly dry. We were getting close to packing up so I wasn’t overly concerned with the shape he was in. We were in the process of ungluing ourselves from our blind chairs when a group of Ringers buzzed us. Shots rang out, two birds splashed but one sailed. It didn’t just sail some little ways, it sailed clear to the far shore, probably pushing 250 yards. Rusty did not see it, he had been too focused on the birds that splashed to recognize the one now a quarter of a mile away. I knew time was of the essence, the sooner we could get him over to that bird the better chance we had of recovering it. We had trained for this, running hundreds of poison birds with blinds. The weather however, made this a very different situation.

I called Rusty to my side, pulling him off his marks and started preparing him for the blind. While working to get him lined up, he looked at me in a way I hadn’t seen before. He knew what we were doing, he knew he would be running a blind, he knew the ducks floating in the water would have to wait for later. The look he gave me said “I trust you”. I paused for a moment, this wasn’t the usual excited look I was used to with him running blinds. He was much softer, still focused, but the usual excitement had been replaced with a sense of calm. In that moment, I felt a connection between us that was much deeper than one commonly shared by dog and handler. This dog was trusting me not only to lead him, but he was willing to undergo extreme cold and fatigue simply because I was asking him to. With our eyes still locked, I gave him a nod and told him “dead bird”. His eyes turned, focused perfectly on the shore line where the bird was last seen, and he gave a deep breath. I waited a brief second, then sent him with all I could muster calling “BACK” at the top of my lungs. He hit the water with the same intensity as the first retrieve of the day. The swim was long, and the wind was quartering him, constantly working to push him off line. I had my whistle to lips, waiting for the force of the wind to nudge him off course, but I could have just left it in my waders. He held perfectly true, fighting the entire way and landing on shore in the exact spot the bird had only a few minutes earlier. He picked his head up and I gave couple slow whistles, signaling the rest was up to him, I could no longer help. His head dropped, tail picked up intensity signaling fresh scent, and he disappeared into the brush. Time never passes as slowly as when you are waiting for a dog to run down a crippled bird, completely out of sight. I stood waiting for what felt like an eternity, only catching a glimpse of brush moving here and there. Finally, I caught of glimpse of his tail, he was 20 or more yards from where he first entered the brush. I knew better than to handle him at this point, just as he had trusted me, I too trusted him to figure this out. I watched him work the shoreline for a moment, then his entire body tensed and he lunged into the brush. The brush exploded as he surged through it with an intensity that could only mean one thing, he had found the duck. Within seconds, he emerged with a large drake Ring Bill held securely in his jaws. He made his way back across the lake, gently laid the bird in my hand, gave a heavy sigh and positioned himself to pick up the two birds still floating in the decoys. When he returned with the last bird, I kept him at my side rather than returning him to his blind. I gently stroked his shoulder whispering “Good Boy”, and just took in that moment with him.

The events of that day were a culmination of years of training, but I also believe there was more to it than purely trained skills. Rusty was willing to put it all on the line that day, simply because of the desire and trust he had in me. That type of relationship takes time to build, but is incredibly special and worth achieving. Trust, as defined by the Webster Dictionary, “is firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something”. We most often think in terms of trust regarding our human relationships. There are many people in our lives we trust, like our spouse, our parents, or close friends. We tend to feel a sense of calm, or openness around these people as we sense they have our best interests at heart. Trust in our canine relationships can be treated much the same, and is an important piece of establishing a healthy bond with them. Dogs are not all that dissimilar to humans in the sense that trust is not granted but is earned. Establishing trust with your dog simply requires a basic understanding of how they view the world. Once you earn a dogs trust, you set yourself up for years of enjoyable memories together.

How Dogs View Trust

To better establish trust with your dog, it is important to understand what it is they need. First and foremost, dogs are pack animals. It is one of the most amazing things about them because it is the reason they look to develop bonds with humans, or want to be a part of everything you do. You are their pack, and their pack is the most important thing in their world, and they look to it to provide the necessities to live such as food, water, shelter and safety. Food, water, and shelter are self-explanatory, safety is a little more complicated. In a pack, there is a leader who has a few responsibilities. They are responsible for defending the pack from threats, as well as maintaining a healthy pack dynamic. They do this by keeping the members from fighting each other, ensuring all members are cooperating on hunts, and determining when and where the pack travels. Each member of the pack looks to the leader for direction, and confidently follows them trusting they can provide for their needs. Mirroring what a pack leader would do in the wild provides the blueprint for establishing trust with your own dog.

Building Trust

Being a leader and building trust with your dog does not mean giving them or letting them do whatever they want. Often times this can lead to reactive or fearful behaviors. When a dog experiences a new situation, or perceived threat, they will look to their pack leader on how to respond. If the leader is calm and unbothered, they too will remain calm. In the absence of a leader, dogs often become stressed and unsure of new situation. This leads to barking, growling, leash pulling, avoidance, or other reactive behaviors. So, the key to trust is actually to establish boundaries for your dog. When we have client dogs come to the kennel, they don’t know us, we aren’t part of their established pack, and for all they know we could be a threat to their safety. Expecting them to immediately jump into complex training is unrealistic. Instead we spend the first few days establishing trust and a leadership role through avenues that speak to them. Providing food, water, and shelter are givens but we also put a lot of emphasis on providing boundaries and direction. This is done through a multitude of small, but important actions. We establish boundaries around how they come out of their kennel, making them wait before going through doors, or taking them to the bathroom on a 30ft lead and asking them to walk where we are going rather than where they want to. By implementing these small things, we start to establish ourselves as reliable leaders and in turn gaining their trust. We have found that taking a little extra time to establish trust and confidence with us as leaders actually accelerates the training process and leads to a happier more compliant dog. 

What Trust Looks Like

There is no doubt that a relationship built on trust played a role in Rusty’s willingness to perform on that memorable November day. While we focus primarily on developing hunting dogs, a trusting relationship is the foundation for all dogs regardless of breed or purpose.A dog that trusts you will walk happily on a loose lead being solely focused on where you are going rather than where they want to go. They will eagerly perform obstacles, play fetch, or go on hikes. They are easy to have off leash because they are focused and committed to what you are doing. They have less reactive behaviors, such as barking at other dogs or people that come to your house. They are more fun to be around, and you end up doing more things with them because of it. So, spend some time, establish trust with your dog through boundaries, and enjoy the amazing relationship that comes with it.