"He doesn't like that"
My dog doesn't like walking up the stairs. Doesn't like riding in the car. Doesn't like waiting. Doesn't like having his harness put on and so on and so forth.
Such situations always arise. Not every dog likes to deal with something new. Maybe something was stupid once, so it is rejected from now on. Everyone knows that. But there are two ways of dealing with such situations - I would even go further and say that there are two types of dog owners.
There are those who say: OK, if he doesn't like it, then we'll just leave it. And there are those who say: Oh, there's something we need to practice!
You can already imagine which strategy I think is better. Introducing the dog to unknown and sometimes uncomfortable things carefully and in small steps, teaching him that there are things that he just has to put up with and that there is nothing bad about it – that is Education .
Not just because of the thing that the dog doesn't like or thinks is stupid. More importantly, if your dog has learned that he can cope with such things with your help, then he will trust you even when he finds something really bad and scary. Because he has accepted your leadership in the little things. That makes it much easier for him to follow you when it really matters.
However, if the whole thing develops in the other Because you allow your dog to avoid anything that doesn't suit him, this can quickly develop into distrust and fear of anything new and unfamiliar.
Asking your dog to face new or unpleasant experiences teaches him confidence, but also impulse control and self-control. It's not just about getting him used to something, it's about letting his personality mature.
And something else very important: it gives the dog a sense of achievement. You've probably experienced this yourself. Every time you have to overcome something, you feel better afterwards. Your dog also grows a little bit every time he has a new experience, mastered a new challenge. With you at his side.
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