Chess, Dog Training, and the Princess Bride

Good day, dog families! Today's post is gonna be a fun one! Let's get into it... Chess players have this interesting thing called "board vision".

Fundamentally it means the ability to (mentally) see all of the various possibilities for moves by your pieces (and those of your opponent). It's the ability to quickly and accurately interpret the current state of a chessboard, seeing the strategic possibilities, potential threats and dangers. You're seeing beyond the current action, taking into account the whole board and what could occur.

So how does this tie into dog ownership? I'm glad you asked...😏

Outside of the chess world, this is essentially referred to as being proactive.

Whether it's your first dog, or you're on your 6th, you can still be unfamiliar with dog psychology, training, and behaviour, and innocently make a lot of blunders by not looking ahead proactively. Here's how it happens...

Example: Sarah is on a neighbourhood walk with Louie, and he's doing so well that she gives him a ton of extra leash to wander. She approaches a backyard with two crazy dogs losing it, running back and forth barking, and before Sarah even realized there was a potential problem, she's neck deep in it. Her dog Louie has already joined the "fence fighting" and is reacting and barking alongside them. Now she's frantically trying to make the situation less intimidating by telling Louie "Those are friends!! They just want to say hello!" After a few minutes of complete mayhem "socializing", Sarah eventually drags him away, now completely lathered and ready to "greet" more dogs with the same inappropriate energy.

Do this for a couple weeks in a row, and Louie now has reactivity problems.

Now, with proper board vision, it could go down like this:

The scene is set--Sarah's on her walk with Louie, they're having a great time. She's aware & paying attention to her environment and, perhaps more importantly, her role as a leader to Louie. She see's a backyard coming up that could have dogs in it, so she proactively puts Louie on the opposite side of her, keeps a shorter leash (perhaps even has a high value treat), and calmly gets Louie's focus as she's about to pass. When the backyard dogs suddenly appear and start barking and running back and forth, Sarah is not surprised and in a vulnerable position with Louie, and is therefore able to provide more stability and example to him in this moment.

Sarah doesn't address or give attention to the backyard dogs, but does her best to get Louie's focus as she passes. Louie may be a bit bothered or spooked by the loud display of dogs, but he is not in the "danger zone" where he is reacting badly with them.

By Sarah utilizing good board vision, she was able to be in control of a situation that could have been a problem, establishing an example that when they hear or see dogs losing it loudly around them when they leave the house, they don't engage.

"Work smarter, not harder"...as a dog owner looks like having better board vision that proactively prevents outcomes we don't want rather than having to react and repair after they've already occurred.

In so many words: Don't wait for your dog to become twitchy, reactive, or damaged by circumstances you could just have had better board vision for 💥

Now listen, we absolutely cannot see EVERYTHING coming all of the time. That's not the point I'm trying to make. The point is...

Though we may feel like the outings we take our dogs on are on "autopilot", it's important to remember our dogs are always being influenced by what happens around them, and we are able to give them better experiences by being better observers, and applying cause and effect alongside it.

Dogs are creatures of habit, and repetition is an excellent teacher, for good or for bad.

Regularly asking yourself in a given situation with your dog: "Do I like where this could go?" is a great practice! You can do this in any area--mealtime habits, a routine they have when you leave the house, something they do when a specific person comes over, etc. If you were to look 10 moves down the "chessboard", what do you think that behaviour or habit would look like or turn into? The answer should tell you if it's something to encourage or discourage.

Board vision + cause and effect = powerful dog ownership tools for change.

"Stay present, stay pleasant, stay proud" was the catchy phrase I grew up hearing in an old barbie film, and I think it oddly applies to dog ownership too.

Going out into the world with your dog you should be:

✅ Aware, observant, and present in the moment

✅ Pleasant and in a good attitude (for yourself as much as your dog) #mindsetmatters

✅ Leaving the house with pride of ownership & self is underrated. Walk with purpose, don't be a slob, clean up after yourself and your dog, be proud of yourself!

We'd love to know what you think on this subject. Have you seen ways being proactive with your dog paid off? Or is it a new concept to you?

"Have fun storming the castle!"

Till next time,

The RLD Team