After a recent group class, one of the owners approached me with a question. He said he was outdoors playing with his dog, and when it was time for her to come in she wouldn’t listen to him. He went on to say that his dog listened to his wife really well, but she’s more strict and barks orders at the dog. He said he doesn’t want to do that. He seemed to want a buddy, not a companion.
As I listened, I thought- you just answered your own question. My reply to him was, “Your dog doesn’t respect you, she respects your wife”. He replied, “So that’s it?” and I said, “Yes. You can’t have it both ways.”
I think this is one of the biggest reasons people have obnoxious, pushy dogs. The owner is not willing to take charge and teach the dog rules. Dogs cannot be the one to decide if they are going to obey or not. When you say “come”, does your dog even react as if he heard you? Or does he go about the business at hand and keep barking at the neighbor, or sniffing the interesting odor on the ground?
The dogs that make the rules and decisions are the ones that run out into the road and get hit by a car. Dog’s do not have the cognitive fortitude to make decisions, that is what you and I are for. The owner has to have the brains to make the correct decisions for the dog.
Police dogs like to bite people. The officer and the dog are a team, but it is the officer that decides who the dog bites. Not the dog. You and your dog are a team, whether you like it or not. If your dog bites someone, then you are the one that pays for it. Sometimes the dog pays the ultimate sacrifice, but it’s not the dog’s fault. It’s yours. As a dog’s owner, Dad or Mom, or however you want to look at it, you are responsible for making good decisions for your dog.
Responsible dog ownership includes annual veterinary visits and licensing. It also means keeping your dog under control and on a leash when out in public. It means controlling your dog; no jumping, nuisance barking, biting or running loose. It means no stealing food, no paws on the counter, and keeping off the furniture. It means sit, down, come, walk nicely on a leash, and stay.
At our training facility, we teach all of those things. Dogs should be taught to ignore distractions such as other dogs, bicycles, skateboards, children, company, food and so on. If your dog is allowed to jump all over visitors, then they will be seen as annoying and disrespectful. Did you know a dog puts a paw on another dog out of disrespect, which could cause a fight? Dogs will not tolerate each other’s disrespectful behavior and you shouldn’t either.
There is some training advice posted in our blogs, and I also have a free dog training video available for you if you sign up for my free newsletter. You’ll see how I raised and trained a puppy from 8 weeks to a year old in the video, and the video includes more advice. Please visit my YouTube channel for even more training tips.
If you have a pushy dog and need some help, we offer free evaluations. My team does an excellent job and your dog will be well behaved in only two weeks. It’s up to you to maintain the training after that, but it’s not rocket science. We teach you how to clearly communicate with your dog. All you have to do is be consistent.
If you would like to have off-leash reliability, letting your dog run free to behave like a dog while you maintain control, visit our contact page today. Help is only a phone call away, and you will love the results.
