How to communicate properly with your dog:
Communication is everything in dog training. If you are not communicating properly you are making it much more difficult for not only you, but your dog as well. Consistency is the name of the game. Pick two words, a yes phrase, and a no phrase. Typically a yes phrase would be, “good boy” and a no phrase would be, “no.” By staying consistent and using the same two words, it will be much easier for your dog to figure out if he is doing something wrong or right. This brings me to my next point, as a society I think we focus so much on telling the dog when he is bad, but not praising him when he is good. Let your dog know when he is doing the right thing. Chances are he is doing it 80% of the time, but all that sticks out in our brains is the 20% of the time that he is doing wrong. If you take the time to praise him for the good stuff, he will start to understand that’s what you want. This means he will start doing what you want, because it means good things, compared to doing what you don’t want, which means bad things. The yes phrase, in the beginning should be paired with praise and treats. Over a short period of time, once he starts hearing the “good boy” he will start to think about praise and treats, which will make him want to do it again. The no phrase needs to be very business like. If your dog is getting up on the counter, say “no” and go and intervene. No simply means I’m coming to remove you. This needs to be very consistent. It can’t be, “no!, no!, no!, I mean it this time, I’m coming over there!” With consistency the dog will hear “no” and then get down on his own because he knows you’re coming anyway. He will then start to figure out if he gets up there you will just say “no” and remove him so he won’t even bother. See a pattern here? Its all about consistency. The no word is the precursor to punishment. But punishment doesn’t always have to be intense yelling and hitting. Giving a dog a timeout can be way more effective, and your blood pressure can stay right where it was prior. Give this a try and let me know how it works for you.
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