How many times, has a novice owner turned up at a training class, only to have the trainer tell them Dalmatians can't be trained. To hear other people in the street say "oh, Dalmatians! They are really naughty" etc.
PLEASE do NOT believe a word of it!!
Many Dalmatians have been trained easily and many compete succesfully in obedience/Agility/Flyball competitions and Carriage dog Trials etc.
Dalmatians are extremely SMART! In fact, maybe too much so!
They can often wrap their new owners around their little paws. They 'read' human behaviour really well, and can often appear 'humanlike'.
Firstly and most importantly, you need to remember that a Dalmatian will try to take advantage of most situations. As the saying goes:
Give them an inch and they'll take a mile!!
It is therefore doubly important that you are CONSISTENT in your training and that includes shaping wanted behaviour at home.
Little things count for so much with the Dalmatian:
Insisting that humans always go through doors/gateways first
Insisting, when your Dalmatian gets in your way (in front of you) as you are walking around the home, that they must move, not you stepping around them.
Insisting, food must never be grabbed/pinched etc.
Insisting, that sometimes you will not give them attention when they ask, only when you want to.
All these little things will send strong messages to your Dalmatian that you are the boss.
If your Dalmatian (even as a young puppy) knows who is boss, training of any kind will be much, much easier.
They need to realise that when you say 'no' you mean 'no'!
Establish good behaviour at home and the rest will follow.
Secondly, Dalmatians tend to have a short attention span. You could compare them to the 'brilliant' child, who becomes bored easily as they find things so easy.
In this breed, repetitions of a certain exercise must be for short periods, always broken up with play and fun!
For example: When teaching a puppy to sit. Do it at home, before picking up a toy to play with, before giving them a treat or chew, before putting their lead on etc. And just ask them to do it ONCE each time.
Don't take them a side for a full on training session, repeating the sit command again and again as many times as you can in 10 minutes. BORING!!!!!
Teaching silly tricks is an excellent way of having fun with your Dalmatian.
They love to look silly as much as they love to please!!
By teaching obedience in small doses throughout the day, you will probably have amounted the same as a long separate training session.
The more things you can teach your Dalmatian to do, the easier it will be each time.
You will gradually create a very strong bond with your Dalmatian and find you will be able to 'read' their behaviour better and better.
PUPPIES
Make sure you do NOT miss the 'window of opportunity', from the time you bring your puppy home for the first time until it is 6 months old.
At this early stage all puppies have an extremely large learning capacity. The more you can train them at this stage and most importantly SOCIALISE them with the outside world (noises, experiences etc), the more likely your puppy will grow up to be a well-behaved adult.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking the puppy is far too young/cute to be learning how to sit, stand, lie down, come when it called etc.
NOW is the time.
As mentioned before, train behaviour throughout the day. Make it short and make it FUN!
Remembering that sleep is a vital requirement for growth and maturing and working around that.
Insist that your puppy behaves as you would expect an adult Dalmatian to do so.
So often, an owner has let the puppy jump up while it was tiny, or playbite, etc.
Before you realise it, the puppy is fully grown and jumping up and playbiting hard!!!
BEWARE: All puppies will go through the 'teenage stage'.
Just like the human versions, they are full of hormones and start answering back!!
Remain consistent and maintain your behaviour rules.
Both you and the dog will emerge the other side, and you will find yourself with an adult Dalmatian who is easy to live with and a joy to have around.
Read some really good books on canine behaviour. It will help you to understand what is going on and what they are REALLY thinking. There are also some really good puppy training books available.
I would highly recommend:
THE DOG LISTENER by JAN FENNELL and
THE PERFECT PUPPY by GWEN BAILEY
Finally, a word about dog training classes.
Some are good, some are great, and some are downright appalling!!
You will find some advertised in your local pet shop or vet. You may even hear of some through recommendations.
But even if you are a complete novice, if you are not happy with what you hear, or are being told to do, then please LEAVE. Find another.
DOG TRAINING SHOULD ALWAYS BE DONE WITH FIRMNESS, KINDNESS AND PATIENCE. A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF CANINE BEHAVIOUR FROM YOUR TRAINER IS ESSENTIAL.
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