*click, click* Good owner.

So my lack of compliance boils down to frustration that training ran into a road block and I felt at a loss to find away around. I’m writing my behaviorist today to see if we can do something to get back on track!

You are right when it comes to the trainer’s perspective however. I usually explain what people need to do to attain a goal to progress at a certain rate. If they don’t adhere to the program I usually know.

Sometimes they don’t fess up. For instance, I had an aggression case last year that was pretty extreme and difficult due to the dog’s temperament, breed, and household dynamics with the established dog.

However, about the third lesson I had to ask the client how much she was working on the strategies I outlined. She was only working on them three days a week which was not working.

We outlined what she could do and then I didn’t see her as frequently because she had to hit specific goals before we could progress.

Bottom line, her behavior problems probably could have been extinguished in 12-16 weeks instead of the six months it took.

She was thrilled, me? Not so much because my goal is to extinguish that type of issue as quickly and as effectively as possible. There were lots of complications in this case–but ultimately the goal was achieved.

So that is the good news because that is my job. I also had to laugh when the client was reading books on training and told me that they said the same thing that I was teaching her.

LOL

You gotta laugh about it but I don’t always tell people my background.

Bottom line? Communication is key but so is sticking to the program outlined by your professional. So glad that you brought up the medical example–even the veterinary clinics see the same things.

My former client also was not compliant with the directives from the veterinarian–spent lots of money and visits because she wasn’t.

Go figure!

PS I give my clients treats (and sometimes candy) but they also get squirted with water (after we establish a good rapport). This makes them laugh and get going a bit. It really is the human clients that need all the work.

Sometimes it’s probably a bit like taking antibiotics–
the doctor tells the patient to take the full 2 weeks worth
of the drugs. But you start feeling better on day 8, so you
start forgetting to take the drugs.

If a client thinks significant progress has taken place already,
they might be less likely to finish up with the rest of the
intervention. As well, it’s a lot easier to think short term
(I have ten million other things to do right now, can’t spare
10 minutes) than to think long term (this will save me time,
effort and money 6 months from now).

Also, are the expectations reasonable?
(And not just from the trainer’s perspective, but also from the
client’s perspective?) In one of the pre-agility classes I took
last spring, we were suppose to (as part of our homework) take
our dogs out in public settings to work on training
(restaurants, petsmart, etc.) three times a week.
??? ha! Must have seemed reasonable to the trainer, who works
with dogs for a living. Not as reasonable for a college student
who was also working part time. I was lucky if I got in once
a week. And it’s always harder to comply with expectations if
they seem unattainable and too far fetched.

Just a few thoughts. I can see how this issue would be
maddening for you, though!

Mary