The first, and most important, ingredient in a well behaved puppy or dog is LOVE. Dogs are NOT mantle pieces acquired to decorate our homes, nor should we take them in to enable an irresponsible child to shirk the responsibility of having a pet.
All too often I have seen dogs mistreated, talked poorly of, and even struck out of frustration and resentment. This is NOT appropriate and is the equivalent to child abuse! If a dog is "dropped into your lap" through the actions of an irresponsible human child of yours and you do not want to put in the time and effort necessary to raise the dog to be well behaved and polite; it is YOUR job to find her a loving home where she will be treated as part of the family, not as a burden to it. One thing to remember is that dogs are not actually mature, emotionally, until they are about 2 years old. Until that time, they will want to play constantly and will have HUGE amounts of energy! This is not a behavioral issue; it is completely natural and should not be discouraged.
As their parents, we must provide the essentials: food, water, PLAY TIME, and LOVE!!! If you are not able to meet the energy needs of your new family member, the best you can do is find a home that can meet that need. This will reduce your frustration and theirs. Keeping the dog with whom you cannot or will not play is cruel and unacceptable. Research the breed you are considering BEFORE you adopt to ensure a good match. If necessary, hire a professional to work with you on determining the appropriate breed for your family. For instance, if you are retired and not very active, perhaps that really cute Golden Retriever puppy you are thinking about is NOT a good idea since they can run tirelessly for hours and, if not exercised appropriately, they can seem to be unmanageable. You would be too if you were a youngster the age of 5 or so and required to sit in the house all day as the new world passes you by. Imagine the frustration of then being allowed to go outside, but only to relieve yourself and no play! Do yourself a favor---if you have adopted the wrong kind of dog, find it a more appropriate home and start over with another, more appropriate breed. You and the dog will be happier. Also, excuses such as, "we don't have the heart to give her up", are only self-inflating statementswhich make us appear to be martyrs for our dogs, when, in fact, we are being cruel and selfish. If you have thought or said that followed by some negative statement relating to how "wild" she is, you have the wrong dog. Do yourself, and the dog, a favor and FIND HER A NEW, MORE APPROPRIATE HOME. There is nothing wrong with admitting that the dog you have is not the type of dog that you can handle. It is far worse to keep her and expect her to change her core being for you. It won't happen and it will most likely ruin her. No one admires a self made martyr; so don't be one!
That said, training your new family member is going to take time and, most importantly, PATIENCE! Dogs don't speak human and humans don't speak dog, at least not initially. However, through this reading material, you will come as close as humanly possible to “speaking dog”, on her level while she will come to understand exactly what you are requesting. Mind you, I use the work requesting very loosely. What I truly mean is commanding. We do not ask our dogs to behave, we teach them to respond appropriately to our cues so that they become well balanced, well behaved, and polite members of our families as a matter of course, without needing constant reminders of how to be such. Now on to the meat of the course… speaking Dog.
Let’s start with a lesson on how canines communicate. Have you ever seen a dog tell another dog to leave her food dish alone? Was it verbal, physical or both? Most likely, it was; a growl, a head tilt, and a snap. In my house, this behavior is tolerated as long as it does not get out of control. If dog # 2 does not understand, due to age or prior isolation, I monitor the interaction to prevent her from getting hurt. When the correction is issued by dog #1, dog 2 should move away and accept that the food bowl is off limits. If dog 2 persists, there will be a fight…therefore, I intervene and issue a human correction by removing dog 2, via body blocks, from the area and showing her where her food bowl is. This correction may have to be issued more than once before she catches on; BE PERSISTENT and you will be successful in training your dogs whose bowl is whose. This is lesson 1 and a very important lesson to have harmony at meal time, which can be a very chaotic time unless YOU take control.
The object of the lesson is not only to show you how to have peace at meal time, but also to illustrate canine communication. Dog 1 did not say, in English, “get away from my bowl”; but instead used canine communication to get the point across. Dogs communicate via body language and various audible cues such as growling and barking. More often than not, they will use a combination of the two to get their point across. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU REMEMBER THIS WHILE TRAINING YOUR CANINE! One of the most common mistakes humans make with their companions is their body language contradicts their intended message. Consequently, the companion has no idea what it is supposed to do and will fail the exercise.
All too often I have seen dogs mistreated, talked poorly of, and even struck out of frustration and resentment. This is NOT appropriate and is the equivalent to child abuse! If a dog is "dropped into your lap" through the actions of an irresponsible human child of yours and you do not want to put in the time and effort necessary to raise the dog to be well behaved and polite; it is YOUR job to find her a loving home where she will be treated as part of the family, not as a burden to it. One thing to remember is that dogs are not actually mature, emotionally, until they are about 2 years old. Until that time, they will want to play constantly and will have HUGE amounts of energy! This is not a behavioral issue; it is completely natural and should not be discouraged.
As their parents, we must provide the essentials: food, water, PLAY TIME, and LOVE!!! If you are not able to meet the energy needs of your new family member, the best you can do is find a home that can meet that need. This will reduce your frustration and theirs. Keeping the dog with whom you cannot or will not play is cruel and unacceptable. Research the breed you are considering BEFORE you adopt to ensure a good match. If necessary, hire a professional to work with you on determining the appropriate breed for your family. For instance, if you are retired and not very active, perhaps that really cute Golden Retriever puppy you are thinking about is NOT a good idea since they can run tirelessly for hours and, if not exercised appropriately, they can seem to be unmanageable. You would be too if you were a youngster the age of 5 or so and required to sit in the house all day as the new world passes you by. Imagine the frustration of then being allowed to go outside, but only to relieve yourself and no play! Do yourself a favor---if you have adopted the wrong kind of dog, find it a more appropriate home and start over with another, more appropriate breed. You and the dog will be happier. Also, excuses such as, "we don't have the heart to give her up", are only self-inflating statementswhich make us appear to be martyrs for our dogs, when, in fact, we are being cruel and selfish. If you have thought or said that followed by some negative statement relating to how "wild" she is, you have the wrong dog. Do yourself, and the dog, a favor and FIND HER A NEW, MORE APPROPRIATE HOME. There is nothing wrong with admitting that the dog you have is not the type of dog that you can handle. It is far worse to keep her and expect her to change her core being for you. It won't happen and it will most likely ruin her. No one admires a self made martyr; so don't be one!
That said, training your new family member is going to take time and, most importantly, PATIENCE! Dogs don't speak human and humans don't speak dog, at least not initially. However, through this reading material, you will come as close as humanly possible to “speaking dog”, on her level while she will come to understand exactly what you are requesting. Mind you, I use the work requesting very loosely. What I truly mean is commanding. We do not ask our dogs to behave, we teach them to respond appropriately to our cues so that they become well balanced, well behaved, and polite members of our families as a matter of course, without needing constant reminders of how to be such. Now on to the meat of the course… speaking Dog.
Let’s start with a lesson on how canines communicate. Have you ever seen a dog tell another dog to leave her food dish alone? Was it verbal, physical or both? Most likely, it was; a growl, a head tilt, and a snap. In my house, this behavior is tolerated as long as it does not get out of control. If dog # 2 does not understand, due to age or prior isolation, I monitor the interaction to prevent her from getting hurt. When the correction is issued by dog #1, dog 2 should move away and accept that the food bowl is off limits. If dog 2 persists, there will be a fight…therefore, I intervene and issue a human correction by removing dog 2, via body blocks, from the area and showing her where her food bowl is. This correction may have to be issued more than once before she catches on; BE PERSISTENT and you will be successful in training your dogs whose bowl is whose. This is lesson 1 and a very important lesson to have harmony at meal time, which can be a very chaotic time unless YOU take control.
The object of the lesson is not only to show you how to have peace at meal time, but also to illustrate canine communication. Dog 1 did not say, in English, “get away from my bowl”; but instead used canine communication to get the point across. Dogs communicate via body language and various audible cues such as growling and barking. More often than not, they will use a combination of the two to get their point across. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU REMEMBER THIS WHILE TRAINING YOUR CANINE! One of the most common mistakes humans make with their companions is their body language contradicts their intended message. Consequently, the companion has no idea what it is supposed to do and will fail the exercise.
Hoover is SUPER obsessed w/ food (most likely because he was starving living on the streets before we adopted him). So, the first thing we taught him was food boundaries. His sister, Jackie, takes her sweet old time with eating and will sometimes leave half of it for a "snack" later. He does not touch it because he knows it's not his. Great Lesson to talk about Rich. :)
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