The Relationship

Hi, again . Glad you've decided to join me for the next in our series of training articles. Today we are going to address the relationship between you and your precious pet.

The main idea is to have your dog's behavior be a result of your direction, rather than their instinctual choice. Affirmation of this is exhibited as eye contact from your dog to you. Unless you plan on using your dog's natural aptitude, as in the case of a bloodhound tracking someone, or a beagle chasing a rabbit, most of those instinctually driven choices will be detrimental in a domestic environment…i.e. Your Home !

Once your dog understands that he must look to you for direction or approval, he has now become receptive to any information you might be looking to give him. He is already asking "What do you want me to do?"

Okay, now, the trick is…How do you do it? How do you get Fido to look at you before he runs out the front door or before he grabs the steak off the counter, or before he chases the kids down the street, dragging you behind?

You must first establish that a consequence exists for the thought of leaving or making a choice without your approval. This can be accomplished by doing something as simple as clapping your hands when the dog looks interested in leaving through the open door, and reinforcing their contact and return to you.

To facilitate this return of attention, it is of the utmost importance to create an association of pleasure, comfort and security when the dog is with you, or returns to you. You should begin to notice an enthusiastic response to your direction.

Now, communication. It is nothing more than speaking to your dog in a way that makes sense to them, understanding how they hear what you say, and then how to say what you really mean. I will expand on these three aspects of communication at our next lesson, in "How Dogs Learn."

Last of all, consistency is of major importance. It is the characteristic of your relationship that determines whether or not your dog will be stubborn. Even the dog that is naturally resistive can be taught to be receptive when they can count on your demands, or requests, to be unconditional and consistent. If you don't always follow through to successful response, your dog will learn to question you. If in one circumstance he has to behave a certain way, yet in another you are too busy to reinforce that same response, he will have to try to figure out which day this is, behaving or not.

Ponder these concepts, try them out on your dogs. I will expand on these principles of communication, in the next article, as we get further into how dogs learn.