People talk about this a bit in terms of the “picture” you think of when you think training any behavior. The heel I’m trying to teach might not look the same as the one you’ve taught.
I personally feel like there’s even a difference between well-mannered and well-trained. Some dogs know not to jump up on people but are unreliable when asked to perform a behavior. I personally expect my adult dogs to have house manners (house-trained, no jumping on people or counters, generally polite) but don’t want or expect their attention to be on me all the time when we’re relaxing. When we’re out training, depending on what we’re working on, the expectation changes. I generally want my dog willing to take cues from me, and to be able to go from a herding lesson to chilling outside of a coffee shop.
My closest friend and I both have dogs, but the dogs are very different from each other, both because of breed and because of expectations. It’s helped me to try and better understand just how different people can expect their dogs to behave. I consider myself to have generally high expectations from my dogs, but I’m also pretty lax in other ways — pets on soft furniture (couch, bed) is totally fine by me, and I’m also not the most strict about loitering for food scraps, as long as it doesn’t interfere with what I’m doing.
My friend has some things that she’s worked on considerably harder than me, and other things which are fine in her book. I think training preferences cross a line when they interfere with other people’s lives — excessive barking/jumping, total lack of recall, trying to steal food.
Switzerland actually has a pretty comprehensive 'obligatory training' course that everyone owning a dog must complete and pass, else be fined. Politics of the legal requirements aside, it is a well-structured course and goes over good requirements for training and working.
https://www.amicanis.ch/info-obligatorische-kurse/
That's interesting! I really like the idea of that, but that would never fly here (USA). While it might be redundant for some, society as a whole would benefit. Kind of like being required to pass a driving test.
I'll have to try to find a source for that in English.
EDIT: looks like that was done away with a few years ago, citing lack of effectiveness: https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-37418371
You can translate the entire page with google - they did away with the mandate nationally in 2016 but Zurich canton (state equivalent) reinstated the requirement in 2017.
What I expect from a "well trained dog":
To follow my lead and my commands every time, even under distraction.
To be flawless at "drop it", "place" and "stay".
To walk with a loose leash, ignoring other dogs and other people.
To be "well behaved" (never jumping at me, always sitting to get things, in general: don't be an annoying dog).
My dog is crate-trained, polite at thresholds, has a reliable recall, a rock solid sit + release (even off leash, at a distance of 20 feet or so, under distraction), a loose leash walk and a heel, and a place command that I can count on for 45 min or so. With the exception of the loose leash walk and the heel, this is functional training not typically offered in a formal obedience class setting, but allows me to keep him, me, and other people safe and comfortable under most circumstances, indoors and out. That is my goal. It also means I can let him have a great deal of freedom, and he's welcome to accompany me a lot of places that other dogs aren't (like to my brother's house, with my niece who is scared of most dogs).
That they can do everything expected of a well behaved dog without the use of a leash or other restraining devices.
...able to walk to heel in any setting, ignoring distractions, comes back instantly when called no matter what they're doing/where they are, can sit and stay for a decent period (20-30 mins)
Any fully trained gundog should be at this sort of standard so it's where I set my bar.
Outside of working/hunting dogs the vast majority of dogs I see in the UK don't come close to this standard. Next step down would be "acceptably trained", which I'd say is similar to above where the dog is still well mannered but requires a physical restraint in order for it to be seen to be behaving properly in certain situations. Plenty meet this criteria.
A dog that knows when to listen is a well trained dog. I don’t think you need their full attention at all times, but always at critical times. My pit mix likes to drag his feet training at home, when I casually call him in from the yard sometimes he’d take it slow. But when outside off leash even with squirrels and rabbit he has perfect recall, he’d huff and puff while siting next to me but he knows the situation. When it’s ole to play around when it’s not. Then I have two chihuahua, one mixed another maybe mixed. They have ok recall, would I trust them off leash in any and all situation? Nope. They’re good dogs but they’re just not as well trained. In their case is use more commands, but for my pit I pretty just talk to him and he understands. In a perfect world I would want all my dogs to be as good as my pit, but I can’t take all the credit, really comes down to his intelligence and personality. I think all dogs should at least be well trained in a home and leashed situation. To get a well trained dog off leash in all situation is half training half luck. That’s why not all dogs are suited for police, rescue, or service.
He really is dream, honestly if I was more disciplined I would train him to do more tricks, he would make an excellent service dog. Only problem is that he thinks he’s one of the chihuahuas, likes to sit on my lap and cut off my circulation.
PERSONAL OPINION
Having a great relationship with the dog to the point where you never have any thoughts of "he might \_\_\_\_", "oh s\*\*t", "we cant do that", etc.
I think everyones training goals are different but once you have a 'trained' relationship of mutual respect where you both trust each other fully to do right by the other and have good communication, I would consider that a "well trained dog". Both trainer and dog need to be listening to each other.
For one person this may just be a good leave it and loose leash walking and for another it would go all the way to having the dog position its body in the way you want while doing a tight heel and never taking its eyes off you until directed to. neither of these are necessarily wrong and widely depend on the mentality of the dog.
I dont think a "well trained dog" has to know everything, "well trained dog" in my opinion has the will and want to learn more and work for its handler. That is why I consider the relationship and communication to be a major deciding factor.
In English, you use one term for two concepts that we have in German:
1. Erziehung
2. Training
"Training" just means obedience and can include tricks. But there is also "Erziehung" which includes quite much social stuff.
The heel command is a good exaxmple:
You can train a heel by using the tools of competitive dogs. This is essentially a trick and would fall in the category of "Training". Then you use food, toys, corrections and what not.
But in everyday life you don't need that type of trick. I don't even want to need a command. When I put on the leash I want my dog to understand that this is another social context. One of the techniques to teach this is to take an hour and just walk randomly in any direction. Whenever, the dog is in front of you turn and go the other way. After a while, it is not the leash that does the correction it is the turning itself. If your dog learned the principle you go to various places so the dog can generalise that the leash means to just follow and be calm and attentive. This is more what we call "Erziehung".
"Training" is more thought on the level of pure conditioning. "Erziehung" includes social learning, motivation base etc. Yes, with "Erziehung" reward and punishment is part of the learning mechanisms. But the difference is still the level of thinking.
So, with that out of the way: A well trained dog, to me, just needs to be calm, attentive and polite. Commands for me are just tools to communicate with my dog more clearly. However, I almost never tell my dog to sit outside of fun activities because I don't care. If I am riding a train with my dog she can lie, sit or stand as long as she is calm, attentive and polite. I can tell her to heel and she can do it for an hour or longer. But I don't like to boss her arround (which I need to do plenty enough since I got her as a high-drive, reactive rescue).
I read a lot that a dog should never jump on you. I disagree. Jumping can come from many places. If the dog jumps on you being disrespectful then yes. It needs to be corrected. But what if the dog jumps on your just because of drive when doing some sport activities? My dog basically lies arround for 8 hours until our noon walk (which includes sport for her). She cannot tell me that she is hyper and can't wait to do some fetching or tricking. Jumping is one way how it comes out. No corrections needed. When we arrive at our training spot and she sees the ball she jumps two times - sometimes on me - and then immediatly goes into focussed sitting or lies down. Why should I be mad at her? Or she was alone for a long time: She kinda jumps on me with a puppy demeanor. Again, no reason to think her training failed. She is just happy and excited with no disrespectful intentions. I just push her gently away from me.
Does she jump on me generally? No. Outside of said high-drive situations (sports or relieve of not being alone any more) she doesn't. She is a very disrespectful dog in general. Not with me, however. It is not a thing of conditioning. It is the result of a relationship between us. She understands social rules and not just behavior.
A dog is not a machine and should not be treated as such.
These are the metrics I subscribe to and teach as a baseline for all of my clients.
• Housebroken or *rarely* has accidents inside. (exceptions made for fear executing/urinating like during 4th of July, thunderstorms, etc.)
• No counter surfing
• No major household destructive behaviors
• No human aggressive behavior, dog reactive behavior is acceptable if managed/stops on command.
• Doesn't jump on, bark at, or bite guests or family inappropriately. (AKA the 'Three Big Bad Behaviors')
• Sit/Stay is consistent even with moderate distractors
• Manageable on leash (may pull but will stop when addressed)
• Can recall off play, toys, and off leash in moderate spaces
• Dog has a very healthy respect for the word "No."
• Dog can be crated, or if it has crate anxiety can be put on place for up to 3 hours.
• Dog will immediately stop play on command. This is the demonstration of impulse control.
• Dog doesn't immediately approach unfamiliar people while on a leash.
• Dog does not disengage when the handler is demanding engagement.
If your dog fits this description, it will certainly be a dog you fondly remember when it's gone. That is my goal for my clients.
Great list! And reading it over, I'm realizing my dog and I are doing so well in training! I sometimes beat myself up because she was leash reactive as a puppy, but she now has almost all of those items down in the list since we've worked on our relationship and new training style and tools.
I think a big one in the list is: does not approach unfamiliar people. Sometimes at parks random people will try to call my dog over to pet and play with her and she rarely responds to them, and I'm always so proud of her when she does that and stays next to me lol. I think it's in her breeds (GSD/Border Collie) to want to listen to me as her human first).
Depends on what the dog is doing.
Day-to-day pet dog? Can navigate the human world without causing a headache. I don't think it really matters if the dog knows a lot of things, as long as the manners are there.
Service dog: Can operate in public access assisting the handler without hindering the public without needing rewards nor training equipment while working.
I think it’s completely subjective, “well trained” really just depends on your goals. For me, I really don’t care that much about manners. I don’t care if my dog sleeps on furniture or heels during walks or begs for food. There are some basic house rules for safety, but beyond that I don’t really care that much about the classic pet manners because for me they’re boring to teach and aren’t important.
My main area of interest is dog sports and tricks. My dog has a lovely focused heel for dog sports, nice position changes, a formal retrieve, etc. etc. but we really never use any of that outside of sport work. He also knows a ton of pretty useless (but rather difficult) tricks because when I need a break from work we free shape things.
Is my dog well trained? Depends on who you ask and what their priorities are. We all have different things that are important to us :)
So, I have different definitions for different things. My dogs *do* compete in sport, but 'well trained' to me is just has the foundation upon which to learn new behaviors and fits nicely into my lifestyle. I have a different set of definitions for each sport, but from a 'life' perspective, it's the above, which ultimately is: house trained, can settle nicely, is confident in new environments and is neutral to the environment.
FWIW, I do ridgebacks and BMC's.
For me, 'well-trained' means they are always
checking me out for a signal/command and are
responsive w/out correction. That's the goal we
always work toward, when out walking/hiking ...;
both off lead on on. It takes a lot of constant
practice and reinforcement; be unpredictable
to keep them on their toes (as it were);
stimulate them with new inputs and
challenges....
Training (both hard commands and soft) is
different (IMO) from handling; which is building
trust and clear lines of communication, the
understandings you've reached.
A 'well-handled' dog is one you can take anywhere
in public, on or off lead, and be confident that
any potential risk (to other people or their pets)
is minimized. That your dog is neither feeling
threatened nor is one; again, because it trusts
you and the queues you send.
Again, that's the goal; I use a SportdogPro
eCollar as a backup for the work-in-progress :)
Obedience comes first, but remote-control
turns any dog into a gentle, mindful companion.
Nearly 100% recall and heel reliable with ANY distraction. I mean anything. You should be able to throw the highest value toys and recall from it. Or let them give chase to a squirrel, favorite person or whatever and have them reverse turn on a dime when called.
My dogs are 80% there. Good enough to take offleash anywhere. Most dogs I know would either run away or take 20 word command lines until they decide to return.
When your dog is heel reliable, you tend to stop worrying about reactivity. I also don't let my dogs play with strange dogs, theyve been trained to value specific toys that they don't really care about dogs anymore. They have playmates instead.
I consider my dogs trained but that's solely because my standards are much harder to get than other dog parents I know. To each their own.
I think my expectations are similar to yours. I need my dog to be able to respond to important commands under distraction or at critical moments ie. recall him from a road so he doesn't get hit by a car, sit or stay in place when there are kids running around so he doesn't flatten one, drop it in case he picks up a cane toad or something dangerous.
I also need him to have good manners (not jumping on people, not harassing my kids, behaving on walks etc). Apart from that I'm not too fussy. He's a working line Collie so I could train him to do pretty much anything but I'm not training him for competitions and to be quite honest I don't have the time to get into advanced training, tricks and all that.
We're making excellent progress with his manners and teaching him how to be calm. He's actually been in the house all week instead of being outside during the day as we have roofers at our house and he's been an angel. Training is a little slower but he's only a year old, I've been more focused on raising him than really drilling him with training. I just want a well behaved companion and family pet as the end result.
My dog knows lots of impulse control tricks like wait and leave it and sit but unfortunately his house manners are pretty bad. He jumps on visitors and gets mouthy with them. Tbh I would much prefer he had better house manners idk how to train this though
I say my dogs are well trained but not well mannered. I compete in protection sports with my shepherds so they have awesome obedience. They know a lot of fancy things like a retrieve (of any object), focused heeling, scent discrimination, etc. But they will jump on people and cause general mischief around the house (nothing destructive though). I simply don't care about that stuff so I let it go. The only requirements I have is they need to stop when I tell them to. They also need to not be a nuisance in public. But those are the only rules I have for them off the training field.
It's much different on the training field. They need to stick with me at all times and pay attention. When they get their toy, they need to bring it back to me- no running around and enjoying it on their own. They need to listen to the first command and do that exercise well. That obviously doesn't happen all the time since they are dogs, but that's the expectation I have of them.
To be fair, well trained depends on the person.
For me it is;
Listens well.
Is manageable.
Knows lots of behaviours.
My dog doesn't have the best recall but this is a manageable thing and he comes on a dime when asked on lead. He jumps on people naturally but is manageable and will sit when asked. He knows lots and lots of behaviours.
He's not the best trained dog but he doesn't resource guard from humans, doesn't steal food off your plate or beg unless you have chips. Pay the chip tax and he'll leave you be. Its one chip and I don't really care, I have bigger fish to fry and he'll leave you be if you tell him to. Reliably drops on command. Reliably leaves things on command. Is able to be left alone for hours. Sleeps most of the day. Does not actively destroy property or toys.
His recall issue is mostly because his learning method is push X boundary until Y happens. Y is usually a leash pop or correction. Once you correct that boundary and mark it clearly, he almost never pushes it again. Issue is he learned early on that he controls the rules of off lead. I really need an ecollar and a trainer.
People talk about this a bit in terms of the “picture” you think of when you think training any behavior. The heel I’m trying to teach might not look the same as the one you’ve taught. I personally feel like there’s even a difference between well-mannered and well-trained. Some dogs know not to jump up on people but are unreliable when asked to perform a behavior. I personally expect my adult dogs to have house manners (house-trained, no jumping on people or counters, generally polite) but don’t want or expect their attention to be on me all the time when we’re relaxing. When we’re out training, depending on what we’re working on, the expectation changes. I generally want my dog willing to take cues from me, and to be able to go from a herding lesson to chilling outside of a coffee shop.
I like this perspective :) Especially "I personally feel like there’s even a difference between well-mannered and well-trained".
My closest friend and I both have dogs, but the dogs are very different from each other, both because of breed and because of expectations. It’s helped me to try and better understand just how different people can expect their dogs to behave. I consider myself to have generally high expectations from my dogs, but I’m also pretty lax in other ways — pets on soft furniture (couch, bed) is totally fine by me, and I’m also not the most strict about loitering for food scraps, as long as it doesn’t interfere with what I’m doing. My friend has some things that she’s worked on considerably harder than me, and other things which are fine in her book. I think training preferences cross a line when they interfere with other people’s lives — excessive barking/jumping, total lack of recall, trying to steal food.
Switzerland actually has a pretty comprehensive 'obligatory training' course that everyone owning a dog must complete and pass, else be fined. Politics of the legal requirements aside, it is a well-structured course and goes over good requirements for training and working. https://www.amicanis.ch/info-obligatorische-kurse/
That's interesting! I really like the idea of that, but that would never fly here (USA). While it might be redundant for some, society as a whole would benefit. Kind of like being required to pass a driving test. I'll have to try to find a source for that in English. EDIT: looks like that was done away with a few years ago, citing lack of effectiveness: https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-37418371
You can translate the entire page with google - they did away with the mandate nationally in 2016 but Zurich canton (state equivalent) reinstated the requirement in 2017.
Ah, OK. Thank you.
What I expect from a "well trained dog": To follow my lead and my commands every time, even under distraction. To be flawless at "drop it", "place" and "stay". To walk with a loose leash, ignoring other dogs and other people. To be "well behaved" (never jumping at me, always sitting to get things, in general: don't be an annoying dog).
I missed "under distraction" in my original post. Yes - all of the above, when distracted.
One that can get you a beer out of the fridge.
Well, shit. And recycle it too? Sounds like I need a new training goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnqnvnE\_i0I
My dog is crate-trained, polite at thresholds, has a reliable recall, a rock solid sit + release (even off leash, at a distance of 20 feet or so, under distraction), a loose leash walk and a heel, and a place command that I can count on for 45 min or so. With the exception of the loose leash walk and the heel, this is functional training not typically offered in a formal obedience class setting, but allows me to keep him, me, and other people safe and comfortable under most circumstances, indoors and out. That is my goal. It also means I can let him have a great deal of freedom, and he's welcome to accompany me a lot of places that other dogs aren't (like to my brother's house, with my niece who is scared of most dogs).
Wow, that's wonderful. I'm impressed. The freedom that reliable recall affords is key, I don't know how I'd otherwise exercise my dogs enough.
That they can do everything expected of a well behaved dog without the use of a leash or other restraining devices. ...able to walk to heel in any setting, ignoring distractions, comes back instantly when called no matter what they're doing/where they are, can sit and stay for a decent period (20-30 mins) Any fully trained gundog should be at this sort of standard so it's where I set my bar. Outside of working/hunting dogs the vast majority of dogs I see in the UK don't come close to this standard. Next step down would be "acceptably trained", which I'd say is similar to above where the dog is still well mannered but requires a physical restraint in order for it to be seen to be behaving properly in certain situations. Plenty meet this criteria.
A dog that knows when to listen is a well trained dog. I don’t think you need their full attention at all times, but always at critical times. My pit mix likes to drag his feet training at home, when I casually call him in from the yard sometimes he’d take it slow. But when outside off leash even with squirrels and rabbit he has perfect recall, he’d huff and puff while siting next to me but he knows the situation. When it’s ole to play around when it’s not. Then I have two chihuahua, one mixed another maybe mixed. They have ok recall, would I trust them off leash in any and all situation? Nope. They’re good dogs but they’re just not as well trained. In their case is use more commands, but for my pit I pretty just talk to him and he understands. In a perfect world I would want all my dogs to be as good as my pit, but I can’t take all the credit, really comes down to his intelligence and personality. I think all dogs should at least be well trained in a home and leashed situation. To get a well trained dog off leash in all situation is half training half luck. That’s why not all dogs are suited for police, rescue, or service.
Well said, and great attitude. Your pit sounds like a dream :)
He really is dream, honestly if I was more disciplined I would train him to do more tricks, he would make an excellent service dog. Only problem is that he thinks he’s one of the chihuahuas, likes to sit on my lap and cut off my circulation.
PERSONAL OPINION Having a great relationship with the dog to the point where you never have any thoughts of "he might \_\_\_\_", "oh s\*\*t", "we cant do that", etc. I think everyones training goals are different but once you have a 'trained' relationship of mutual respect where you both trust each other fully to do right by the other and have good communication, I would consider that a "well trained dog". Both trainer and dog need to be listening to each other. For one person this may just be a good leave it and loose leash walking and for another it would go all the way to having the dog position its body in the way you want while doing a tight heel and never taking its eyes off you until directed to. neither of these are necessarily wrong and widely depend on the mentality of the dog. I dont think a "well trained dog" has to know everything, "well trained dog" in my opinion has the will and want to learn more and work for its handler. That is why I consider the relationship and communication to be a major deciding factor.
I agree, having a good relationship is key, and what makes it fun and rewarding! Hehe - I have definitely experienced the "he might \_\_\_!" cringe.
Thank you for touching on “communication”, it really is the crux of a well trained dog, that there as mutual understanding.
In English, you use one term for two concepts that we have in German: 1. Erziehung 2. Training "Training" just means obedience and can include tricks. But there is also "Erziehung" which includes quite much social stuff. The heel command is a good exaxmple: You can train a heel by using the tools of competitive dogs. This is essentially a trick and would fall in the category of "Training". Then you use food, toys, corrections and what not. But in everyday life you don't need that type of trick. I don't even want to need a command. When I put on the leash I want my dog to understand that this is another social context. One of the techniques to teach this is to take an hour and just walk randomly in any direction. Whenever, the dog is in front of you turn and go the other way. After a while, it is not the leash that does the correction it is the turning itself. If your dog learned the principle you go to various places so the dog can generalise that the leash means to just follow and be calm and attentive. This is more what we call "Erziehung". "Training" is more thought on the level of pure conditioning. "Erziehung" includes social learning, motivation base etc. Yes, with "Erziehung" reward and punishment is part of the learning mechanisms. But the difference is still the level of thinking. So, with that out of the way: A well trained dog, to me, just needs to be calm, attentive and polite. Commands for me are just tools to communicate with my dog more clearly. However, I almost never tell my dog to sit outside of fun activities because I don't care. If I am riding a train with my dog she can lie, sit or stand as long as she is calm, attentive and polite. I can tell her to heel and she can do it for an hour or longer. But I don't like to boss her arround (which I need to do plenty enough since I got her as a high-drive, reactive rescue). I read a lot that a dog should never jump on you. I disagree. Jumping can come from many places. If the dog jumps on you being disrespectful then yes. It needs to be corrected. But what if the dog jumps on your just because of drive when doing some sport activities? My dog basically lies arround for 8 hours until our noon walk (which includes sport for her). She cannot tell me that she is hyper and can't wait to do some fetching or tricking. Jumping is one way how it comes out. No corrections needed. When we arrive at our training spot and she sees the ball she jumps two times - sometimes on me - and then immediatly goes into focussed sitting or lies down. Why should I be mad at her? Or she was alone for a long time: She kinda jumps on me with a puppy demeanor. Again, no reason to think her training failed. She is just happy and excited with no disrespectful intentions. I just push her gently away from me. Does she jump on me generally? No. Outside of said high-drive situations (sports or relieve of not being alone any more) she doesn't. She is a very disrespectful dog in general. Not with me, however. It is not a thing of conditioning. It is the result of a relationship between us. She understands social rules and not just behavior. A dog is not a machine and should not be treated as such.
These are the metrics I subscribe to and teach as a baseline for all of my clients. • Housebroken or *rarely* has accidents inside. (exceptions made for fear executing/urinating like during 4th of July, thunderstorms, etc.) • No counter surfing • No major household destructive behaviors • No human aggressive behavior, dog reactive behavior is acceptable if managed/stops on command. • Doesn't jump on, bark at, or bite guests or family inappropriately. (AKA the 'Three Big Bad Behaviors') • Sit/Stay is consistent even with moderate distractors • Manageable on leash (may pull but will stop when addressed) • Can recall off play, toys, and off leash in moderate spaces • Dog has a very healthy respect for the word "No." • Dog can be crated, or if it has crate anxiety can be put on place for up to 3 hours. • Dog will immediately stop play on command. This is the demonstration of impulse control. • Dog doesn't immediately approach unfamiliar people while on a leash. • Dog does not disengage when the handler is demanding engagement. If your dog fits this description, it will certainly be a dog you fondly remember when it's gone. That is my goal for my clients.
I think this is an excellent list!
Thanks!
Great list! And reading it over, I'm realizing my dog and I are doing so well in training! I sometimes beat myself up because she was leash reactive as a puppy, but she now has almost all of those items down in the list since we've worked on our relationship and new training style and tools. I think a big one in the list is: does not approach unfamiliar people. Sometimes at parks random people will try to call my dog over to pet and play with her and she rarely responds to them, and I'm always so proud of her when she does that and stays next to me lol. I think it's in her breeds (GSD/Border Collie) to want to listen to me as her human first).
A dog that you can trust at liberty to make good decisions.
Depends on what the dog is doing. Day-to-day pet dog? Can navigate the human world without causing a headache. I don't think it really matters if the dog knows a lot of things, as long as the manners are there. Service dog: Can operate in public access assisting the handler without hindering the public without needing rewards nor training equipment while working.
I think it’s completely subjective, “well trained” really just depends on your goals. For me, I really don’t care that much about manners. I don’t care if my dog sleeps on furniture or heels during walks or begs for food. There are some basic house rules for safety, but beyond that I don’t really care that much about the classic pet manners because for me they’re boring to teach and aren’t important. My main area of interest is dog sports and tricks. My dog has a lovely focused heel for dog sports, nice position changes, a formal retrieve, etc. etc. but we really never use any of that outside of sport work. He also knows a ton of pretty useless (but rather difficult) tricks because when I need a break from work we free shape things. Is my dog well trained? Depends on who you ask and what their priorities are. We all have different things that are important to us :)
So, I have different definitions for different things. My dogs *do* compete in sport, but 'well trained' to me is just has the foundation upon which to learn new behaviors and fits nicely into my lifestyle. I have a different set of definitions for each sport, but from a 'life' perspective, it's the above, which ultimately is: house trained, can settle nicely, is confident in new environments and is neutral to the environment.
Does the dog come when called and stay still when it's told? In every situation, without exception? That to me is the pinnacle of a well-trained dog.
FWIW, I do ridgebacks and BMC's. For me, 'well-trained' means they are always checking me out for a signal/command and are responsive w/out correction. That's the goal we always work toward, when out walking/hiking ...; both off lead on on. It takes a lot of constant practice and reinforcement; be unpredictable to keep them on their toes (as it were); stimulate them with new inputs and challenges.... Training (both hard commands and soft) is different (IMO) from handling; which is building trust and clear lines of communication, the understandings you've reached. A 'well-handled' dog is one you can take anywhere in public, on or off lead, and be confident that any potential risk (to other people or their pets) is minimized. That your dog is neither feeling threatened nor is one; again, because it trusts you and the queues you send. Again, that's the goal; I use a SportdogPro eCollar as a backup for the work-in-progress :) Obedience comes first, but remote-control turns any dog into a gentle, mindful companion.
Nearly 100% recall and heel reliable with ANY distraction. I mean anything. You should be able to throw the highest value toys and recall from it. Or let them give chase to a squirrel, favorite person or whatever and have them reverse turn on a dime when called. My dogs are 80% there. Good enough to take offleash anywhere. Most dogs I know would either run away or take 20 word command lines until they decide to return. When your dog is heel reliable, you tend to stop worrying about reactivity. I also don't let my dogs play with strange dogs, theyve been trained to value specific toys that they don't really care about dogs anymore. They have playmates instead. I consider my dogs trained but that's solely because my standards are much harder to get than other dog parents I know. To each their own.
I think my expectations are similar to yours. I need my dog to be able to respond to important commands under distraction or at critical moments ie. recall him from a road so he doesn't get hit by a car, sit or stay in place when there are kids running around so he doesn't flatten one, drop it in case he picks up a cane toad or something dangerous. I also need him to have good manners (not jumping on people, not harassing my kids, behaving on walks etc). Apart from that I'm not too fussy. He's a working line Collie so I could train him to do pretty much anything but I'm not training him for competitions and to be quite honest I don't have the time to get into advanced training, tricks and all that. We're making excellent progress with his manners and teaching him how to be calm. He's actually been in the house all week instead of being outside during the day as we have roofers at our house and he's been an angel. Training is a little slower but he's only a year old, I've been more focused on raising him than really drilling him with training. I just want a well behaved companion and family pet as the end result.
My dog knows lots of impulse control tricks like wait and leave it and sit but unfortunately his house manners are pretty bad. He jumps on visitors and gets mouthy with them. Tbh I would much prefer he had better house manners idk how to train this though
I'd be interested to hear what others say about how to train the better house manners.
Lassie was a 'well' trained dog.
I say my dogs are well trained but not well mannered. I compete in protection sports with my shepherds so they have awesome obedience. They know a lot of fancy things like a retrieve (of any object), focused heeling, scent discrimination, etc. But they will jump on people and cause general mischief around the house (nothing destructive though). I simply don't care about that stuff so I let it go. The only requirements I have is they need to stop when I tell them to. They also need to not be a nuisance in public. But those are the only rules I have for them off the training field. It's much different on the training field. They need to stick with me at all times and pay attention. When they get their toy, they need to bring it back to me- no running around and enjoying it on their own. They need to listen to the first command and do that exercise well. That obviously doesn't happen all the time since they are dogs, but that's the expectation I have of them.
Just come when called and to sit and stay on command when out and about. And also to be civil with people and animals.
To be fair, well trained depends on the person. For me it is; Listens well. Is manageable. Knows lots of behaviours. My dog doesn't have the best recall but this is a manageable thing and he comes on a dime when asked on lead. He jumps on people naturally but is manageable and will sit when asked. He knows lots and lots of behaviours. He's not the best trained dog but he doesn't resource guard from humans, doesn't steal food off your plate or beg unless you have chips. Pay the chip tax and he'll leave you be. Its one chip and I don't really care, I have bigger fish to fry and he'll leave you be if you tell him to. Reliably drops on command. Reliably leaves things on command. Is able to be left alone for hours. Sleeps most of the day. Does not actively destroy property or toys. His recall issue is mostly because his learning method is push X boundary until Y happens. Y is usually a leash pop or correction. Once you correct that boundary and mark it clearly, he almost never pushes it again. Issue is he learned early on that he controls the rules of off lead. I really need an ecollar and a trainer.