Trusting Your Instincts in Dog Training
Dog training is a pursuit steeped in tradition. There are countless proven “methods” of training both for retrievers and pointers. These methods were developed decades ago, and have since been iterated and improved upon both by talented trainers and new technology. This is a great advantage to a new trainer who is just starting out because they have hundreds of years of history to learn from. Not to mention access to mentors who are more than happy to share their knowledge. I have personally benefited greatly from mentors over the years, and would not be where I am today (though I have a long way to go) in my dog training journey without that help and support. There will come a time as you progress, however, that you hear about or see a training scenario differently than another trainer. That trainer might even be your mentor or another trainer whose opinion you respect. I would make the argument that the best thing you can do in that situation is to trust your instinct and do what you believe to be right. That can be very challenging, but it might be the only way to reach your full potential as a trainer.
Why Trust Your Instincts?
I was listening to a podcast, and the host told a story about a famous journalist who had written a fairly controversial play. The play was set to be performed in a London Theatre. Opening night was a complete failure, and by intermission, there was no one left in the theatre, not even the actors. When asked why he had produced the play, he responded, “I trusted my instincts. Sometimes those instincts lead you wrong, but they’re the only thing that has ever led you right”. The conversation on the podcast then transformed into the idea that there is no worse outcome than not trusting your instincts and still being wrong. That if you trust your instincts and you’re wrong, that is a livable outcome because at least you did something you believed in. I immediately started running through all the situations in dog training where I had a difference of opinion from other trainers. Regardless of whether I was right or not, the ones where I went with my instincts were the ones that resulted in the most personal growth. That led to the idea that the only way to truly become your own trainer is to trust your read of a situation and do what you believe in. While challenging, going with your instincts is a no-lose proposition. You grow if you're right, and you grow even if you're wrong.
What If You're Wrong?
For me, this is the most common thought that goes through my head when faced with a decision to either take or reject advice. “What if I’m wrong?” or “What if I’m not reading the situation right?” This most commonly occurs for me in dog training when discussing the concepts of control and freedom. When I am developing a young dog, I am always balancing the amount of freedom I give them with the amount of control I ask for. It’s a delicate balance because, for a young dog to learn to search and find birds, they need to be given a fair amount of freedom. There is no better gift you can give a young pup than the freedom to learn birds without interference. That is one of the core components of becoming a bird finder. On the other hand, too much freedom can result in a dog that isn’t hunting with you. In extreme cases, that can lead to a dog running off and never coming back. There are enough stories of that happening to keep you up at night. So the balance becomes very important, and I am constantly trying to toe that line.
There was one young dog in particular that pushed me in this regard. She was the first Pointer I ever raised (Pointer being the AKC-recognized breed). She had a lot of GO in her, and I was unprepared for what came with that. There were many outings that ended in me sprinting through the woods in a feeble attempt to get close enough to her to call her in. I was finally able to get some semblance of control with her, at least to the point where I could call her back if she was within a couple hundred yards. Even then, she had a habit of making one or two casts a night that would take her out of earshot, making it nearly impossible to get her back. I discussed this issue with a few different trainers, all of whom I have great respect for. One of the most common suggestions was to add in more control, more handling, and to focus on getting her to hunt with me. On paper, that sounds like the perfect answer. But something about it didn’t quite sit right with me. Watching her I could tell she hadn’t figured out the birds yet. She wasn’t targeting cover well. She wasn’t getting stuck in old scent like many young dogs do while they are learning birds, and when she did bump a bird she was miles behind it. All things pointing to the fact she just hadn’t figured out the birds. I also knew from working with her that she responded very quickly to pressure, and showed signs she might get sticky if overhandled. My instincts were telling me that if I started focusing on handling now, I would rob her of the development she needed. The argument I made in my head was as long as she doesn’t get worse, and I can keep running her down, at some point she will figure these birds out and I can start handling. So that’s what I did. I gave her the freedom to keep learning birds without my interference. The result? Toward the second half of the season, she really started putting the pieces together. She started seeking out cover and having multiple quality finds every outing. At that point, I started asking more from her handling, and she responded very well. We got to the point where handling was hardly necessary, and she would regularly check in between casts. All the while continuing to seek out and find birds.
Was I right? Being you can’t split test life, I’ll never know if handling her earlier would have been detrimental. There is also the distinct possibility it would have been even better. Maybe she would have developed the same level of bird finding, and I might have avoided at least a few sprints through the woods. The point being, I am happy with the direction I went, and I stayed true to what I thought was best. I have all the respect in the world for the trainers who suggested I handle her more, and they have developed many great dogs. The thing about going with your instincts and being wrong is there is no downside. If you hear a piece of advice or suggestion on how to do something, you gain what is called declarative knowledge. Meaning you now know if you do A, B will happen. The problem is you don’t have any context around it or a deeper understanding. If instead, you hear that if you do A, B will happen, but your instincts tell you to do C. If you actually do C and it doesn’t work you now understand the Why behind it. For example, consider telling a toddler not to touch a hot stove because they will burn their hand. The toddler now knows the outcome, but they don’t understand what it means. Without fail, they go with option C and touch the stove. The important piece to understand is they typically only touch the stove once. If another situation comes along where they know something is hot, they now understand what that means and can avoid making the same mistake. They have learned and understand on a deeper level, making it possible to associate that experience with future ones. The same thing happens in dog training. When you're wrong, which you inevitably will be, you learn the why behind it. In turn, you grow as a trainer. Having that understanding is more beneficial than simply having the knowledge. By trusting your instincts even if you're wrong, you grow and advance in your skills.
When your Right
The best possible scenario is trusting your instincts and having things work out. In this case not only are you successful, but you might also stumble upon a new method or way of thinking. When it comes to dog training, that can be very beneficial to the community as a whole. The only way there are advancements and improvements in communities is through trial and error. The most influential dog people through the years came about by developing new ideas. ER Shelley is the first recorded trainer to use pigeons to train dogs. Bob Wehle bread a whole line of pointers that to this day continue to produce top-quality dogs. Delmar Smith brought his horse training methods to dog training, completely revolutionizing how bird dogs were developed. All these men contributed in a significant way to the dog world, and all contributed something new.
Trusting your instincts while training dogs is a win-win proposition. If you're wrong, you grow, if you're right you have the potential to create something completely new. I’m not suggesting you take zero advice from others. In most cases taking advice will save you considerable time and frustration. But if you get a piece of advice, and something in the back of your mind doesn’t quite agree, I encourage you to follow your instincts. Who knows, what you uncover might even change the dog world forever.
