Building a Positive, Lasting Relationship with Your Dog
By understanding how dogs function, you can build a healthy and long-lasting relationship with your furry friend. This relationship must be based on trust, communication, cooperation, and mutual respect. In addition, you have better chances of curtailing many likely dog behavioral problems if you fulfill its psychological, physical, and emotional needs.
Here at The Dog Days Training Center in Berthoud, we’re sharing these tips to strengthen the bond with your dog.
Motivation and Needs
Some dog behaviors and motivations are shared among all canines, both domestic and wild: gaining and retaining mates, foraging, hunting, and maintaining territory. However, unlike wild canines, dogs have evolved and adapted to domestication.
Thus, you must first understand the set of normal behaviors among canines: digging, barking, hunting, scratching, and more, and figure out how to accommodate. Or instead, redirect them. For example, you can have a specific spot for your dog to dig or teach them when to bark.
Body Language
The ability to decipher your pet’s body language is a huge step to creating a long-lasting relationship. Dog owners often say that their pet did something rash out of the blue without warning, but the truth is, dogs rarely act up without issuing warnings. Instead, they readily show fear, anxiety, comfort, dominance, aggression, and even playfulness. Thus, knowing your dog’s body language will keep you more relaxed because you will read situations long before they arise. It will surprise you how many signals you were missing.
Better Communication
In any relationship, across all species, communication is vital. Take this example, how does it sound if a dance instructor shouted at you in a foreign language to make certain moves? Would you learn? What if they calmly showed you how to make those moves in a clear demonstration?
It’s the same with dogs. Nonverbal communication is key if you want smooth communication and a better relationship with your dog. Reward your pet if she shows the behaviors you want, and ignore or redirect those you do not want. This way, you will be an effective and respectful leader to your dog.
Novelty
Dogs are inquisitive animals and are always in the mood to explore new situations, experiences, and objects. However, all dogs differ because bold dogs are likely to be more explorative than shy breeds. Still, exposing your dog to new things in its first ten weeks of life is essential for its development.
Animals constantly learn new things from their immediate environments, so exposing them to new objects stimulates them and reduces boredom. Doing this for your dog enables them to recognize you as their everyday leader, further strengthening the relationship.
Get Started Today
It’s not hard to strengthen the relationship with your dog, but it demands a lot of training and patience to establish yourself as your pet’s leader and giver of commands. The Dog Days Training Center has more professional tips to strengthen your dog-human relationship.
