Golf, and the Game of Dog Training

Posted on Nov 30 in Training A Small Dogby Jeff K.Print

I haven’t played golf in years. Don’t have the time; but I do remember what it was like to walk the course with my buddies. Ladies, I don’t know much about what goes on when women get together to play golf, but here is how the guys do it:

When a foursome of buddies get together on a golf course the pattern of behavior is fairly predictable. In between shots, guys will joke and playfully antagonize each other. The atmosphere is usually light and happy even if one or more of the players is playing a very bad round of golf. In fact, the worse the golf, the more the jokes and taunts fly. That is until someone begins to line up a shot.

When a player settles in behind the ball and prepares to take a swing, the mood on the course changes instantly. Everyone goes silent. Everyone stares. The player over the ball becomes deadly serious. You can slice the tension with a knife. Here comes the backswing. The bystanders draw in breath. Will it be a good shot or a miserable flub?

And Here’s the Shot

Crack! The golf ball flies down the fairway, propelled forward by either a sigh of relief or a horrible curse from the duffer. Then, like nothing happened, the foursome goes back to “smoking and joking,” until the next player lines up for a shot. The pattern repeats: light and happy, deadly serious. Light and happy, deadly serious.

Golf . . . Dogs, What the Connection?

What the heck has this got to do with dogs and dog training? Everything. We dog owners tend to approach dog training like a golfer about to take a whack at a ball. Our relationship and communication with our dog is light and happy until the moment when we line up to teach our dog something new. Then the mood goes deadly serious. Will the dog get it, or will this be a miserable flub? We hold our breath as we prepare to give the dog the all-important training command. Crack! Did he get the idea? If so, we follow up with a sigh of relief. If not, we are apt to curse our poor training skills, or worse. Then, when the training session is over, we go back to “smoking and joking” with our dog.

Do you think a mood change from light and happy to deadly serious during dog training produces the best results? I can tell you that dogs are perfect barometers of human mood. When a person becomes deadly serious, a dog can sense the stress. Stress inhibits learning in dogs.

Take Action:

The very best thing you can do when training your dog is to keep the entire session light and happy. Don’t worry about results. Your dog will eventually learn what he needs to learn if you make the experience of learning enjoyable. I suggest the next time you try to teach your dog something new, treat the lesson as a silly game. An ideal training session should be short, and almost indistinguishable from play. If your dog does not learn as fast as you would like, stop the game, and try again later. If you find yourself getting frustrated, you can go to the golf course later and smash the daylights out of a little white ball. At least your dog won’t care when the shot splits the fairway or fades into the rough. It’s just a game.

Make sense? Tell me what you think in the Reply section below. (You do not have to log in to comment. Go for it! I can take it.)

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