Last Wednesday we were in Dahlonega with a new Home Dog Training client and Rosie, her Husky. Rosie was a pretty good dog except for her issues with stealing things, counter surfing, and not paying attention. These bad habits had been building up since the moment they rescued her. Until last Wednesday, they had no idea how to manage Rosie and her bad behavior. They were excited at the immediate results and how simple the process was.
I explained to my clients that their problem with their Husky was that they were treating her as if she were a human. They assumed that if they communicated with her like humans communicate, she would understand and correctly respond. I told them that their mistake was not their fault. Since humans and dogs have lived together for hundreds of years, we naturally think of them as just our naked, hairy, (human) children.
We use the communication process that our (human) mommy taught us and we will assume that will work on our dog. Our dog was taught socialization and communication by her “doggie Mommy”. Guess what! Her doggie mommy taught her a different lesson.
So, here we are, yelling and screaming at our dog just like she was our teenage daughter. And, guess what? Nothing is working. The more we get mad, yell, and scream; the more matters just get worse.
The problem isn’t that we have a bad dog. The problem lies in that fact that what we think we are communicating is not what Rosie is receiving.
Simply put, we (humans) use our voice (sound) as our main form of communication. Dogs base most of their communication on body language or visual stimulus.
When we are screaming and yelling at our dog, she may be looking at us because she is just wondering what all that noise is all about. She looks at us and we are jumping up and down, flailing our arms, and acting crazy. She is focusing on the fact that we look crazy and not like a leader that she should follow. She is focusing on the body language and not the “Stop It, Drop it, “expletive deleted”, etc.
I told my client that if she stayed calm and still when she needed to correct her dog, that would completely change the dynamic of “crazy person” to “oh, you want something”. Next, she needed to stand up. Your height shows your determination, resolution and direction. When she stands to communicate a command or correction to Rosie, her dog will naturally pay more attention and give more credence to my client’s wishes.
After only a few minutes, Rosie was following my client’s wishes and the house was calm and quiet. My client was amazed and Rosie was no longer confused.
Please call us at (770) 718-7704 it you are in need of any dog training help. We have a lot of good dog training advice at Best Dog Trainers Dahlonega Georgia. Find all our phone numbers, text addresses and email contacts at Dog Training Help Center Dahlonega Georgia.
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