19/02/2025
This statement is very true. Not all behavior issues can be "fixed", but merely modified or controlled. Dogs and humans are complex creatures. Dogs are not computers that can be programmed to behave.
Anyone who’s worked with me or studied with me has likely heard me mention how nice it must be to be a car mechanic. The car comes in, you diagnose the problem — which has a specific, knowable cause (or causes), you get the replacement parts, and then you put it all back together and you either did it right or you didn’t.
You either fixed it or you didn’t.
Dogs on the other hand, well, you get the unique personality quirks, you get the genetic stability (or lack thereof), you get the breed tendencies, you get the experiential impact, and you get the habits which have been allowed to be practiced often for years.
What this means is that you’ve got anything but a truly fixable problem. Why? Because unless you fix all of the items in the above paragraph — which is impossible — you aren’t fixing anything, you’re finding the very best answers for the challenges in front of you.
Can the genetically messy, bite-happy dog be made better? You bet. How much? That all depends. Can the wildly fearful dog who slithers, flinches, or flees whenever something novel occurs be made better? You bet. How much? That all depends. Can the bratty, pushy, happy-to-bully humans and other dogs be made better? You bet. How much? That’s all depends. Can the explosively reactive dog whose breed and genetics make other dogs and prey a cause for explosions be made better? You bet. How much? That all depends.
Just to be clear, I’m not in any way, shape, or form looking to be negative or pessimistic — I’m in fact always optimistic. I’m simply saying that dog training is all about the impossible-to-perfectly-navigate tension between what is possible and what isn’t possible — and that perfection and “fixing”, due to all the stuff our dogs come with, is recipe for frustration and heartache.
Have I seen mind blowing transformations where attitude, demeanor, and personality — and behavioral choices — are radically transformed? You bet. But even with these amazing transformations the fundamental dog is still there, and their quirks and all the rest that make them the individuals they are, are still in there. That said, I’ve also seen countless dogs where 5, 10, 15% improvement was all that was possible — not because the training or owners were the problem, but because the dog was only capable of so much.
The real point I’m trying to make here is that if our dogs are this stew of complex ingredients which they are made of, and which we can only influenced so much (how much is unknown until attempted), trainers and owners are best served by striking a nearly impossible balance: push as hard as possible for progress, and simultaneously find the spaces where nothing more can be achieved. And then work exceptionally hard to find the elusive, sometimes painful, but ultimately reality-aligned, and peace-giving space for you and the dog… acceptance.
