Dogs are unmistakably the most friendly pet you can ever have. Loyal, attached and diligent, they are very smart learners. However, you need to understand that it must be difficult for your pet to communicate with you if you don’t intend to learn the ropes.
a) For starters, and I am supposing that you are a new or a potential dog owner, you might want to notice certain behaviour patterns. These might seem a little different from what it looks like. For example, when a dog bares all his teeth and hangs his tongue out, it might look like your dog is happy but it is generally the opposite. For in nine out of ten cases, your dog is either tired or in pain.
b) Another confusing behaviour trait would probably be its reaction when you are calling it. If, instead to running to you when called, your pet sits down and starts scratching itself, with an air of indifference, it is mostly because you pet does not want to come to you but is scared. In nine out of ten cases, your dog invents the scratch and will continue at it until you give up. This, however, is not a sign of deviousness. You need to let your dog be until it wants to come to you by itself.
c) Dogs like to be scratched. However, they want to be the one to tell you when and where. When you scratch your dog and then suddenly stop, and if your pet rubs his paw over its face, then this probably means that you should continue scratching. Also, your dog might sometimes lie on its back and offer you its belly for scratching. Now, you need to know that this is its softest spot and your pet knows it. So when your dog offers you his belly, it probably means that you are being trusted big time!
d) Playtime is paramount. When your pet thinks it’s the time to play,it will stretch out its forelegs and bow its head, almost in a ritualistic manner. Pay heed; it is like a ritual to your pet at least. If you budge, your dog gives out a high-pitched yap but not a bark. It means that the game is on and you’d better buckle up!
e) Although it is wonderful to see your pet grow attached to you, it is advisable to give it some formal training. Discipline is vital for the proper growth of your pet, and you need to not let you dog cut some slack despite its puppy eyes making you want otherwise. For starters, you need to understand that there are many kinds and methods of training but all of them boil down to two- positive and negative with reference to your chosen measure, be it Reward-based or Aversive-based. To elucidate, Aversive-based training would include the removal of something aversive that the dog finds unpleasant if it agrees to behave in a certain fashion. This is in tune with the ‘negative’ part of the procedure because it removes or withholds something unpleasant if your pet rectifies its behaviour. A good example would be the dog collar. If you dogs sits when you command it to sit, then you might want to loosen its collar, and if it does not, you might just want to tighten it until he corrects his behaviour.
f) The positive measure, on the other hand, applies to inducing something unpleasant to rectify bad behaviour. A fairly common example would be the electric collar. If your dog barks unnecessarily, you might want to turn it on so that your pet, in time, learns that this is not being expected of it. Now, there are a plethora of training instruments that would mostly include choke collars, pinch collars, and electronic shock collars. You will be able to find them at every pet shop. You might even want to look online for there are a number of websites selling the same.
g) However, it is more advisable that you look for measures that do not cause your dog physical pain. For that matter, there are a number of new behaviour modification methods, the most popular of them being BAT or “Behaviour Adjustment Training”. You might want to look up online to find trainers who are familiar with this procedure because exposing your pet to physical discomfort might lead to some serious psychological consequences, most common of them being depression and an unmitigated tendency to cause violence.
For that matter, I believe that Reward-based training triumphs over the first. For example if you give your pet something nice to eat when it comes to you when you call, it will school itself to listen to you. This is a better and undeniably a more popular method in dog owners. However, this often leads to a difficult situation for your dog will, after a point of time, invariably expect to be treated every time it comes when you call. This is not your dog’s fault for it has schooled itself just like you wanted in the first place. Thus, the best way to deal with the situation would be to Reward-the-good and Punish- the- bad. You must institute your pet in both ways so that it does not always expect a treat but neither does it come to you because it is scared to do otherwise. You must understand that training is an art and you need to have a lot of patience to deal with all the pros and cons of having a pet and tending for it. So, good luck!