What does it mean to give your dog a job?

You may have heard the phrase "give your dog a job" and be wondering what it means. In this blog we will discuss the meaning of this phrase and how giving our dog a job to do can be beneficial to their lives.

As a working breed specialist trainer, I often recommend to my clients that their dog needs a job. But why is that?

A Springer Spaniel retrieving a dummy to simulate retrieving game

We have selectively bred dogs for thousands of years to create the best performing athlete for a specific job - for example, retrieving game, herding livestock, dispatching vermin, guarding property, etc.

When we do not give our dogs an outlet for these natural behaviours they will often display them anyway, just in unwanted ways. This is often referred to as a dog becoming self-employed. If you do not employ your dog, they will start their own business!

I see dogs who have training or behavioural problems related to their intended purpose every single day. Examples of this are:

Breed	Intended job	Example unwanted behaviours
Labrador	Retrieve shot game	Stealing, resource guarding
Spaniel	Hunt and flush game, retrieve game	Chasing animals, resource guarding
Border Collie	Herd livestock	Chasing cars / bikes, nipping at ankles
Schnauzer	Guard livestock, hunt vermin	Barking, nipping
Poodle	Retrieve shot game	Resource guarding
Jack Russell Terrier	Hunt vermin	Barking, chasing cats
Beagle	Hunt vermin in a pack	No recall, ignoring owners, barking

A collie jumping through a hoop as part of agility

Giving your dog a job does not necessarily involve their original purpose. It's just about finding outlets for the natural behaviours.

There are so many dog sports out there to choose from so it's definitely possible to find one that both you and your dog love to do. This may be at a very small level, such as hiding balls in the garden for your spaniel to hunt for, or you may want to take it to a higher level and go on courses or training days. Some people even get hooked and it becomes a lifestyle!

Working breeds tend to thrive with structure and training, so even typical obedience training or teaching them tricks will give them something to focus on and give you something you can reward and bond over.