Puppy Training and Business

It's been said that having a puppy is good training for what it will be like having children. Between the disciplining, rewarding, cleaning, looking after, spending time with, etc., I can see how some of this could be true - especially since my husband and I just adopted a puppy several weeks ago. Puppies are fun, but they can be a bit of work. As I was thinking about training a puppy and all it entails, I realized there are probably some business aspects that I could learn from owning a puppy (because that's just what happens when you're working on a graduate business degree-everything somehow relates to business).

As part of the stipulations for keeping the stray puppy we found (who we named Samson), my husband said he must go through puppy school training, so besides taking graduate business courses, we're also taking puppy school classes. Quite different, but there are some good parallels to be drawn relating to business. For example, one of the first things we learned was to consistently reward good behavior as soon as it is demonstrated. If the puppy is not immediately rewarded, he may not know why he is being rewarded and may not do what he is asked later, or it could even enforce the wrong kind of behavior. From a business perpective, this could be similar to rewarding employees. If an employee is given an award for a job well done, but the action being rewarded was from weeks or months ago, it may not have an effect of motivating good behavior.

Another lesson we had to learn was loose leash walking. Since dogs can be incredibly distracted while on a walk, it is important that they don't lose focus on their owners. So in this activity, we toss out little doggie treats every so often which encourages our puppy to look at us or pay attention to what we're doing. We've seen some pretty good results in the few weeks we have been practicing this. From a business sense, this could be like the employee who is getting distracted on job responsibilities by different aspects, competition, or people. To help the employee get back on track, small rewards, verbal praise, or motivation for following through a company's mission statement or goals could be given to help get that employee's focus back.

As our puppy continues to learn boundaries and what is correct behavior (or behavior to not repete), we will eventually not have to check up on him as much. Just as when a new employee is hired and tasks have to be followed up on or double-checked, eventually he or she will learn the correct and best way of completing their job responsibilities and the manager won't need to wonder or worry if the employee can get the job done right.

In the long run, I know puppy school will be a great learning tool for Samson and hopefully make our lives easier when he is older (and bigger!). And in the meantime, maybe I can continue to glean some other parrallels between business practices and puppy classes. At least for now he is learning good behavior - and being photogenic with the camera!