You Need Energy, So Does Your Dog

So there is a huge misconception between what some people will tell you that you need and what you actually need. For example, if you want a dog, to live comfortably in your home, but also have ambitions to do personal protection work or to compete in a sport some people will tell you you don't need or want a high drive dog or that you don't need the best litter. That is absolutely not true. And here's why. 

Whatever you're going to do, you're going to need energy. But the energy is never what they tell you. Like in those nonsense videos, where they tell you the dogs gonna need five, six hours of exercise, that doesn't happen. 

We have one of the highest drives dogs here. And they only need 10 -20 minutes a day of work. And then, of course, you go and take them on walks, but nothing else is really different from what you would do with another lower-drive dog. 

If you want to do all the fun stuff, you want to do the obedience, you want to do the protection work, you will need a lot of drive preferably. So if you consciously pick, a lower-drive dog, because you think is going to be more comfortable. It's exactly the opposite.

My police dog lived in my house just like any other dog, and he was a very, very high drive. And he was just fine from the start. Many people then asked me if he was the same dog shown in my videos. When I told them it was exactly the same dog, they couldn't believe it. Because I can switch it on and off that energy. Trained properly, your dog knows when it's time to work, and when it's time to relax. 

My dog Cody was an extreme dog, he had a super high drive. And what happened was that if you exercised him just a few times a day, it just took a few minutes, for the dog to be completely back in relaxation mode. 

What you don't always think about is the fact that if you've chosen a lower-drive dog, when you need that energy you will not find it.  That dog may have difficulties finding what he is super interested in, he may not focus, he may not engage, he may not eat well All these kinds of things will take more energy from you then. And that's when things get frustrating. 

Maybe that low-drive dog will happily lay around in the house, nice and relaxed. But all the other things that you may have aspired to achieve may be out the window now because the dog just is too low drive to be interested. 

When you go out and pick a dog, you want to have a pick of the litter, you need to find the one that has the most energy, and that is also not afraid of things. Then you need to channel energy. It's actually very easy. If you have a routine, a structure, and the right type of training you won't need hours. What you will need is to complete the right tasks, that lead to his development and yours at the same time. 

You can have it all, a great pet a performance dog, and an incredible bond and connection based on the energy exchange.