It’s more than likely you did not get your dog based on what his breed was meant to do. The majority of dog owners don’t live on a sheep farm or have a flourishing rat population that needs eradicating; every owner of a retriever, pointer, or hound does not go hunting.
Yet, even if you did not get your dog to do the specific job they were bred to do, there are a lot of jobs around the house that you can give your dog that will allow them to use their innate abilities and doing so will make training easier.
Why?
Allowing a dog to use his instinct is like letting a fish swim or a bird fly. It’s what they were born to do and in the case of your dog, it can help with behavioral issues, make training easier, and wear them out quicker (anyone with a 6 month old Viszla puppy understands why that’s important!).
Help With Training
When you tap into a dog’s instinct, there can be challenges. For example, my little sheltie has herding instinct in spades so learning to listen to me at the same time he is herding is a challenge. That’s because those sheep are a really big draw to him.
However, for normal people that do not plan on ever setting foot on a farm, in a field, or a barn full of rats (who would do that?), using your dog’s natural drives to teach other behaviors can actually make it easier, because the dog is already inclined to do it on his own. For this reason, you should stop and consider what your dog’s natural inclinations are, before deciding what to train.
What to Train?
Here’s an example. You have a high energy Aussie but you are not interested in agility, herding, or running 5 miles a day. What can you do to wear him out?
An Aussie is a herding dog and most of them have that instinctual desire to chase, gather, and control moving objects.
Knowing that, here are just a few fun games you could teach your Aussie to wear him out and allow him to use his brain (which will tire him out even quicker than a mindless run ever could):
- Soccer (nothing like herding a ball around)
- Gathering all the toys you throw and put them away (a more challenging game would be to teach him to put them somewhere specific like a corner, and then move them again somewhere else)
- Treibball (if you want to compete in a sport, this one is great)
Or maybe you have a retriever. If so, this should be easy – they like to put things in their mouth and bring it to you!
While you will still have to train the retrieve, you will have a lot easier time of it then say someone with a Frenchie or Chihuahua (not natural retrievers) and your dog will be in heaven!
And, if your retriever puppy is like most, he is already putting everything in his mouth and chewing it! Teaching him to use his instincts to hold and bring the item instead of hold and chew, will save your household items from his mouth.
Teach your retriever to:
- Fetch your slippers
- Hand you the remote
- Get the mail
Have a hound? Teach them to sniff out those keys or phone you are always misplacing, or maybe you teach them to get a can of soda from the fridge. Feeling ambitious? A well-trained scent hound could help you with baking – finding the right spice jars and bringing them to you.
The sky’s the limit when you tap into what your dog was born to do. She will be happy using her instincts and you will be happy with the results. Have you taught your dog a trick using their natural abilities? Share in the comments!
About the Author
Based in Wilsonville, Ore., animal lover Kristina N. Lotz is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and works as a full time trainer. She is the founder of, A Fairytail House, a unique all-positive all-sport dog training facility that helps rescue dogs in her area and provides free seminars and training classes for the community. In her spare time, she trains and competes in herding, agility, obedience, rally, and conformation with her Shetland Sheepdogs. She smartly married a Veterinary Technician, who helps keep the fur kids happy and healthy, and provides a quick resource for articles.
Toledo, United States.
