Page 324 - (DK) The Dog Encyclopedia

CARE AND TRAINING | BEING IN CHARGE

Being in charge

Having a well behaved dog depends on building a good relationship with him.
Learning to communicate the rules in a clear and calm way that your dog
understands will ensure he responds positively to your requests.

SETTING RULES without getting angry and shouting at
Dogs are pack animals and, like humans, him. Giving approval through praise and
they seek out social companionship and affection is the best way to make your dog
build strong relationships. Because their feel secure and loved.
ancestors once lived in packs, dogs look Building a relationship with your dog
up to a leader they can respect and follow. based on mutual respect will make both you
Without a strong leader they can turn and your dog happier. Your dog will gladly
unruly. They are not naturally disobedient— follow commands given by you as long as
in fact, they crave rules and boundaries— he understands what he needs to do. When
but puppies are not born knowing what the training problems occur, it is usually
rules are, and even an older dog may not yet because of poor communication between
have learned all the rules you would like you and your dog. Since dogs have different
him to follow. motivations and needs than humans, taking
Staying focused
Decide upon a set of rules you feel are time to understand how your dog learns Don’t get angry if your dog gets distracted by something
important, then enforce them consistently and what signals he can follow will help set in his environment. Instead, do something to turn his
attention back to you. Using treats or a toy, or even a game
through training methods such as reward- realistic expectations. of chase, will all help to engage him again.
based training (see pp.324–25). Act quickly
to stop any behavior that breaks your rules; VOICE AND HAND COMMANDS the next will confuse him and make training
your dog will soon learn which behaviors Your voice is a useful training tool but it is more difficult. The tone of your voice is also
are acceptable and which are not. easy to forget that dogs cannot understand very important. Your dog will use your tone
There is no need to prove your physical spoken language. Your dog is capable of to gauge whether he is doing the right thing
strength or dominance. If he senses you are remembering what certain words sound like or not, so it is important always to keep your
angry or distracted, he may become fearful and what he should do when he hears them voice cheerful when teaching new words.
or withdrawn. A good owner is calm, fair, but only after repeated training and only if Your dog will also look at your body
and likeable—it is important to help your those words always sound the same. Asking posture to work out the context of a
dog understand when he makes mistakes, your dog to “sit” one day and “sit down” situation and what you are asking him to
do. However, just as dogs have no concept
of language, they do not understand that by
Happy together pointing at something you are trying to
A healthy relationship is one in which your direct their attention to somewhere other
dog is at ease because he knows what is
expected of him, and in return you enjoy the than the end of your hand.
company of a dog that does as he is asked. Dogs, and especially puppies, find learning
hand signals easier than learning voice
commands, because only a small part of
their brain can process verbal information.
Once your dog has learned the hand signal
and is responding reliably to it every time,
add a voice command ahead of the hand
signal. Eventually, after plenty of
repetitions, your dog will respond to the
voice command alone.
Remember, your dog can only concentrate
on one thing at a time. Be patient while
training, and make sure that your dog has
fully learned one command before trying to
teach him a new one.

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