As a pet owner, you need to hone you skills in communication. Communicating with your dog properly allows you to properly control them in a variety of situations.
For example, you want to be able to make your canine understand that it needs to sit down or to let go of a particular item. This can make the difference in making sure that they are protected and your items and the surroundings are undisturbed.
Communicating with your dog is not just a concern on your side. You should be doing your best to understand them. Depending on the sort of pet you have, this can be difficult in a variety of ways.
An overactive pet can have a whole catalog of whines and howls that can be hard to interpret. On the other side of the spectrum, your dog maybe a bit shy in its attempts to communicate. There are a couple of barriers that make communication with your pet difficult.
The Problems
The biggest problem that you face is your own assumptions. People like to think of their pets as little four-legged people. They give them pet names and try to treat them that way. However, this forgets the simple fact that they are animals and do not think the way human beings do.
Communicating with your dog requires that you understand this basic fact first. Treat them with love, but acknowledge the fact that they are animals. Some can be smarter, but they have different ways of thinking that make it hard to get across to them.
The other barrier is the very obvious language hurdle. When we communicate with other people, our main way of doing so is via language.
Most people don’t realize how a common language makes it a lot easier until they they try to communicate with others in a foreign language. The barrier is even higher when the two people trying to communicate are not even of the same species.
However, when communicating with your dog, it can be a lot easier, if you remember three important things. With these three components, your connection with your dog will be able to be built in no time.
1. Sincerity
The first thing that you have to keep on mind when communicating with your dog is to project sincerity. Dogs are very sensitive when it comes to emotions. When you’re working with your dog, you want to be patient and have a positive attitude. If you are not or are just pretending, your dog will be able to sense it.
To make it more understandable, have you ever worked with a teach that was frustrated with you? Now imagine, that feeling magnified. That’s what your dog feels when you’re being negative and upset with him.
Communicating with your dog requires positive emotions and positive reinforcement. This doesn’t mean that you always have to give way to the dog. You’ll want to just be honest with the dog and ensure that you don’t let negative emotions comes through.
For example, if you’re teaching a dog to let go of a toy, then you should try the soft approach. This involves making the toy uninteresting to the dog by stopping its movement. You then resume its movement when your pet lets go, giving it a reward. All through out, try to be patient an understanding with your dog.
Use a quiet and sincere voice when talking to them to try and connect with them and make them understand what you mean.
2. Eye Contact
The next thing to remember when communicating with your dog is to maintain eye contact. One of the first things you should teach a dog is to have them focus on your eyes when taking commands or interacting with them.
It’s not so much a way for the dogs to understand you better, but for you to understand them better. Eyes are a window to the soul, as the saying goes, and it is the same for canines as it is for humans.
Another way that eye contact can help with communicating with your dog is that it ensures that you have your dog’s attention. Eye contact with your dog means that it is focused on you and listening to what you say. If your dog can’t maintain eye contact, then that will mean they won’t be able to listen to your properly.
Dogs have been bred for generations to interact with humans. One of the things that dogs have picked up is to communicate with eye contact. Communicating with your dog via eye contact is a lot easier and helps smooth out the path to further communication between the two of you.
3. The Difference Between Yes and No
The last component to the basics of communicating with your dog is teaching them the foundations of language. Dogs are intelligent creatures, but they will have to start somewhere when it comes to communicating. The first step is the two most used words you will use; “yes” and “no.”
“Yes” and “no” are pretty useful when you’re talking with your dog. A simple “yes” will be able to indicate approval of an action, while an equivalent “no” will tell your pet to stop. To teach your pet these words, you can use simple training for tricks.
For example, while teaching your dog to spin around, every successful move should be accompanied with a reward and “yes.” This shows the pet that you approve and that they should associate positive reinforcement with the word “yes.”
The word “no” should be just simply stated when they do something wrong. No need for punishments. Just withhold the treat and say it in a clear calm voice. You want to show your pet that “no” means no rewards and not that you’re angry.
Be Ready to Communicate
With these three basic components, you will be ready to ensure that future communication with your pet is going to be a success. Keep them in mind when you’re trying to get through to your canine.
To learn how to communicate effectively with your dog, with easy, high-quality videos and walkthroughs, check out The Online Dog Trainer here!
Please leave a comment below or let me know any questions you have. I’d love to hear what you think!
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