Dogs At Work: Giving Your Dog A Job - a podcast by Ty Brown

Recently it’s become very popular for owners to put their dogs to work. I’m all in favor of this and believe it’s a wonderful way to help focus your dog, but it’s also something that has been greatly misunderstood in many different ways. I’d like to use this post to clear up some of those misunderstandings.

Before we dive into this topic, let me first define what I mean by a “job.” Many owners come to me saying that they have a Border Collie or a German Shepherd who needs to have a job. I think this started with Cesar Milan, who’s big on teaching dogs to work. Since then, other popular dog trainers have brought this concept further into the cultural vernacular.

I think that this concept is wonderful in theory, and that we should always look for opportunities to make it a reality. However, I think that owners often get confused because they want to give their dog a job instead of training it. It’s not uncommon for me to get a phone call from an owner who has a Border Collie or an Australian Shepherd or another breed that often excels at agility. They’ll say something along the lines of: “We need to deal with his aggression, so we’re trying to decide whether to do training with you or get him into agility so he can have a job.”

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