When I am out in town I am often asked by other non Norfolk dogs how I have managed to train my human so well and I always reply, "with great difficulty." However the reality is that despite my humans shortcomings I have managed to train them and as such I feel able to offer some good advice to others who may be struggling to get their human to even a basic standard.
For me there are 4 key things to focus on.
Repetition. Humans are basically a bit hard of thinking so you may have to repeat a particular training exercise many many times before they finally cotton on. When I arrived at my house my humans had some bizarre 'no dogs upstairs' rule going on (I know! how odd is that?). Obviously I went upstairs from day one and for the next couple of months they would bring me down and I would go back up. For weeks it went on. I was honestly at my wits end thinking they would never get it and then all of a sudden it clicked for them and they understood that I could go upstairs whenever. I have to admit that there were times when I thought they were simply being stubborn but you must not think like that. They were simply being slow and not grasping it and you need to remain patient and keep up the training.
Reward good behaviour. When your human does finally understand what is expected and performs well it is important to reward them. They like nothing better than having you sit on them and allowing them to give you a stroke so as soon as they do the right thing you must give them a reward. They have a short attention span so it is important to do it straight away so even if you have muddy and wet feet, just get over there and climb on. Don't miss the moment.
Use body language Sometimes they just cant get it and need some visual clues as to what is required. Take when you want to go out on patrol. You'd think standing by the back door would be sign enough but you are dealing with people who are not the sharpest tools in the box so sometimes you need to give them some more clues. Some simple scratching of the door will give them an audio as well as a visual sign. I find that ripping a little bit of paint off with my nails helps them to focus and 'hey presto!' they get it.
Use play to re-enforce training. Humans love a good game and you can use that to your advantage. My humans were pretty atrocious at ball throwing but I kept bringing it back to them and getting them to do it again, and again...sometimes dedicating whole evenings to it, and slowly I saw an improvement. Whilst I knew I was training my human they just thought they were playing a game and that made training fun for them.
Humans are hard to train but it can be done. Perseverance, commitment and understanding that they are slow learners is the secret but it is worth the effort. Once properly trained humans can be delight to live with and will give you hours of pleasure.
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