Communicating with your dog.

There is no such thing as a bad dog. There are dogs that don’t understand what is expected of them by humans. Most of the problems people experience with adult dogs come from lack of socialization and bonding skills as a puppy. Puppies that haven’t been given guidelines to follow and haven’t learned what is or is not acceptable to a human are the ones that end up in the pound branded as a “bad dog”. Most of these dogs have a willingness to please and want a human companion, but simply have not been given the appropriate instructions to make their behaviors compatable with living with humans. In short, it is simply a lack of communication between the dog and the owner that creates some of the behavioral problems.

It is important from the time a dog leaves it’s mother that a puppy understands and respects your space. Before a dog leaves its mother, the mother has trained them in sharing personal space; you get too close to me and I’ll growl at you, you get in my way and I’ll run you over. The mother controls space and after a while the puppies learn to respect her space. While the puppies are playing they also learn to respect and control space of their littermates. So when the puppy comes into your home, it is an expert in respecting/controlling space. But humans are not. We think very little about our personal spaces unless someone invades it. And even then, you may get an uncomforable feeling, but not think much of it. When a dog invades your personal space, most people feel nothing. Many people welcome that invasion. But a dog uses that invasion to control and to shape you into doing things that they want.

For example. A dog controls your space by making you take a step back or out of the way. When a dog jumps on you from the front, they have learned that you will take a step back, opening up your space to them. Giving them the control. Even if you say “no”, the dog doesn’t care, because your body language said “yes”. To stop this behavior, instead of stepping back, saying nothing, charge forward, knocking the dog out of the way with your legs and body. Keep walking with conviction and power, and don’t look back. You just said to the dog, I don’t give up my space. A couple times doing that, the dog won’t jump on you. It now respects your space.

An understanding of space can solve many problems. Teaching a dog to “come” has long been a difficult part of obedience training. With a little understanding of space, you can get a dog to have a very consistent come command.