Monday, August 3, 2015

3 Surprising Things That Your Dog Will Love

What does your dog love? Food, toys and walks I hear you say. Well this is usually true of most dogs but what else does your dog love? Read on to find out.

When we take into account the needs of our beloved dogs we consider their physical needs such as a healthy diet and an interesting exercise schedule. We often take into account their mental health too so we train them, take them on social outings and make sure that they are happy and satisfied with their lives.

There are some things that we don’t expect our dogs to enjoy very much though, these will probably surprise you. So what exactly do you do that makes your dog happy even when you are not trying?

Pushing Him Off
When we push a dog off as he or she jumps up we are, from our viewpoint, rejecting their affection. We can often feel guilty about the perceived rejection. Sometimes we even get frustrated and enhance the rejection a little.

The dog sees this type of behavior in a very different way though. He loves being pushed off when he jumps up because you are interacting with him. This is particularly true if your dog has never been taught a command to keep all of his feet on the ground.

When your dog jumps up and you respond by touching and speaking to him he loves it, simply because you are touching and speaking to him.

Scolding Certain Acts
Most dogs love being spoken to. They love their people and being spoken to is an interaction that most dogs welcome with open paws. This is because, from a dog’s viewpoint, every type of attention is welcome and subsequently the dog will repeat anything at all which he receives attention for.

This type of interaction is usually most precious to the dog who receives little attention at any other time. Many people ignore their dogs until the animal does something unhelpful, then quickly speak to the dog when he carried out an act they don’t like, which of course the dog loves so will repeat the behavior in order to repeat the attention that it got him.

Having Specific ExpectationsThe dog loves to know exactly what is expected from him. Many people move the goalposts when trying to get a dog to behave in a certain way. This will leave the dog confused and often unhappy.

For a dog to know where he stands you don’t need to be harsh or strict with him you simply need to be consistent. For instance if you allow your dog onto the sofa sometimes yet push him off at other times and for no apparent reason your dog will be confused.

If you train your dog to behave in a certain way and only impose your requirements sometimes your pet will be muddled by your actions. Therefore it is important that with kindness, consistency and careful understanding you show your dog how he is expected to behave and maintain the same standards throughout your relationship together.

It doesn’t matter how chaotic your lives are together as long as you are happy and give permission for the chaos, because the dog knows from your permission exactly where he stands. And every dog loves to know where he stands.

Bio:
Sally Gutteridge is a member of the International Society of Animal Professionals. She is a qualified British Military dog trainer and trainer of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. She is soon to be fully qualified Canine Behavior Manager. With the rehabilitation experience of many broken rescue dogs and the careful training of many Shih Tzu dogs, Sally has written the definitive course on improving your dog's behavior and your understanding of it. She shares her knowledge at Shih Tzu Web.







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