I am scared of dogs. Deep down I harbour a natural distrust of them. I wasn’t bitten as a child and I haven’t been attacked as an adult. But when I am around them my natural state is one of anxiety.
So when, some 14 years ago my wife suggested we bought a dog I was, to say the least, reluctant. But after months of badgering I eventually succumbed, subject to a couple of reasonable conditions;
1. We had to meet the dogs parents (just in case they were snarling man eaters)
2. The dog would have to be trained. Not just to ‘sit and stay’, but ‘don’t look at me that way’, ‘go to your bed’ and ‘roll over on your back and play dead’
In short I was only prepared to share my house with a dog, if that dog was immaculately behaved. Within a few days we had located, visited, met the parents and placed a deposit on a pedigree Golden Retriever who was from that moment forward to be known as Tilly.
At three months old she looked like a baby polar bear. Her big brown eyes and wet nose were undeniably cute but as the days went by she grew. At six months old she was gangly, chewy and strong. If I was going to share a house with this animal I needed to invoke my second condition of ownership, she had to be trained.
We found a local trainer with excellent credentials, I booked a course of 10 lessons and attended week one full of optimism.
Now for those of you who have never been to a dog training class, let me just explain one important fact, one half of the owners attend with a genuine need to train their dogs. The other half has immaculately behaved dogs already, but like to attend just to make everyone else feel inadequate.
The class I attended was populated almost exclusively with representatives from the latter group.
During week one we were to practice the basics. Stop and Sit. After half a dozen failed attempts to even stop, let alone sit the genial instructor sensed my pain and offered to show me what to do, again. Taking Tilly’s lead he repeated the exercise and on five consecutive occasions Tilly proceeded to stop and sit like a pro.
It was now my turn to try, full of pessimism I gave the command and to my complete surprise Tilly stopped…..paused…..and then sat. Three more stops and three more sits, each rewarded with a tiny treat and I was the new Barbara Woodhouse!
With my confidence high the trainer asked the group ‘what has Mr Dawe just taught Tilly to do?’. Expecting the response ‘Stop and Sit’ I was therefore horrified to hear the shrill voice of a pallid woman in a ghastly green, hand knitted cardigan say ‘he’s just taught her to jump up’.
To my horror the trainer actually agreed ”Yes Mr Dawe, Marjorie is right, Tilly did stop and sit but by not giving her the treat straightaway (I had to get it out of my pocket) she now thinks that she gets one every time she jumps up, not sits down.’
GREAT! I had successfully taught my dog to jump towards my face with its large teeth snapping, and rewarded her with a treat!
Even Tilly sensed my pain and a few minutes later a mysterious call text to my mobile facilitated our early departure. This was to be my last dog training class ever, although my wife did take over the training duties and yes, we ended up with an immaculately behaved Retriever.
But although the dog obedience class went badly, the lesson I learnt got me thinking. How often in the motor trade do we ask our staff to do something, then fail to recognise and reward them when they do it? And if we do reward and recognise them, how long after the event does that take place?
My dog trainer knew a thing or two about teaching new behaviours and to him the following is obvious
#1 Ask explicitly for the behaviour you require
#2 When you get the behaviour you require, acknowledge and reward it instantly
Whilst our staff are people not dogs, perhaps it’s time to apply some animal principals to the way we train, recognise and reward them.
Instant reward and recognition builds patterns of behaviour quicker than any other training technique known to mankind. Recognise and reward quickly and frequently and that behaviour soon becomes a habit. And habits remain whether you reward it or not.
Think about what habits you’d like your teams to adopt and start rewarding and recognising them now.
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