There are many who, if they passed us on that day, would have thought, because this dog did not bark or lunge at the person or car he saw at a distance…that he was FINE. He may have looked like he was enjoying being on leash in the community. What do you think? Actually, while he may look fine, this is a fearful dog with anxiety. The story of his dog behavior is below.
Is your dog fine? When clients tell me their dog was FINE at the groomer, FINE at the vet, FINE when accompanying them to a busy park, FINE when children are running and screaming…my question to them is, “What does FINE look like in that context?”
Ugh, you are on a very important Zoom call and your dog will not stop barking at your feet! Or your doorbell rings and your dog begins barking, twirling and jumping on you as you go to open the door. You are frustrated. You want to stop your dog’s bad behavior. This is a reminder to you…the time to teach your dog what behaviors you would rather him do in any given situation is often NOT when that situation is happening. Plan ahead. Put management into place. Teach your dog good manners behaviors ahead of time. Practice. And practice more.
When you are cooking in your kitchen, what does your dog typically do? What would you like for your dog to do? Mikhayla Hughes-Shaw with WCPO’s Cincy Lifestyle program filmed this dog training tip with me last year where I talk about teaching your dog good manners in the kitchen.
When I am training a dog (or other animal), you hear me use words like GOOD! and YES! a lot. You also often see me pull out a clicker. There is a lot more to me using those sounds than my simply expressing my excitement. They are training tools, called markers, that help my student learn what I am teaching. Why should you use a marker in dog training and pet training? Let’s explore that in this blog post.
When you and others think about dog training, typically what comes to mind is teaching your teaching your dog to sit, lay down, come when called, stay in position, walk on a loose leash and other active behaviors. Yet teaching your dog to settle is a valuable lesson.
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