Living In The Present: The Key To Association Training - a podcast by Ty Brown

In this post, I’d like to write a little about the present tense verb.

No, I’m not talking about English class! What I would like to speak about is a misconception I have noticed among dog owners. They’ll say things like: “I come home and I know that my dog pooped on the floor. He knows that it’s wrong because he hangs his head and walks around the house.” Or: “He keeps doing this even though he’s learned better. Why?” At its core, this is a present tense verb problem.

See, your ability to form either a positive or a negative association with your dog can only occur in the present tense. If I ask my dog to sit and he sits, I can feed him a treat, tell him “good job,” or give him a pat on the head. In the moment I can tell him he did well, and he can learn that sitting on command is a good thing. If I catch him sitting ten minutes later and I praise him again, the present tense verb is still “he sits.” In that case, I’m not praising him for the act of putting his rear on the ground, but for the act of staying there.

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