Train yourself like you train your dog

I haven’t posted in a while, so here’s something I posted on a forum that someone said was useful. The issue is what you do when your dog has an outburst or an emotional meltdown or is throwing himself at the end of the leash snarling. A lot of people find this extremely distressing, not to mention embarrassing.

Most people’s default behaviours are things like yelling at their dog, jerking the lead or tightening it. These things will make your dog feel worse and react more. Many, many of us find it difficult to behave differently, even when we know our habits are making the situation worse.

>> The best thing I can suggest is to PLAN exactly what
> you will do when the dog reacts. Rehearse that plan in your head, then go
> through the motions when your dog isn’t reacting, then take it on the road
> (class).
>
> Treat it as if you are an animal learning a new behaviour: expect that it will
> be a really rough approximation to start, give yourself praise (Jump up and
> down, eat chocolate, whatever floats your boat!) for anything close to what you
> are trying to do. Do small steps and ignore your “stuff-ups”.

And yes, clicker (positive reinforcement) training does work on people. Check out TAG Teach and do a search for it on YouTube.