How to Communicate With Your Dog

If you say left and your dog goes right or you tell him down, but he keeps jumping up then you might be wondering if your dog ever listens to you. Chances are he is listening, but you two are simply getting your signals crossed. Contrary to popular belief dogs do not understand English. Sure they might pick up a few words here and there, but they communicate primarily through body language and pick up most of what we want them to do through that. Basically, it’s not what you say it’s how you say it with dogs.

Dogs have an uncanny ability to pick up on non-verbal cues of their human pack leaders. Their abilities to pick up on our subtle emotions and moods are what endear us to our dogs so much in the first place. If we learn how to recognize this we can use it to communicate more effectively with our dogs. Instead of telling your dog something try looking at him and motioning with your eyes or hand in the direction you want him to go and see how he responds. This typically works well in a quite environment. As you practice non-verbal commands and communication your dog will get better at responding to them in which case the commands will begin to work in a variety of environments.

Dogs also do well with physical positioning paired with word association. Rather than telling your dog to sit over and over again simply try telling him once and if he doesn’t get it on the first try, place him gently in the sit and say good sit when his rump hits the floor. By praising him and associating the word sit with the physical positioning of the sit your dog should be able to learn the command more quickly than with words alone. If your dog has a tendency to jump on you or your guests simply telling him no is not sufficient in most cases. Next time try a firm down command while grabbing his front paws and gently, but firmly placing his paws on the ground. You are showing him exactly what you want him to do while associating the motion with the word down.

Next, you should look at how you speak to your dog when you do use words to communicate. If you use a high-pitched cute voice or baby talk with your dog he will likely think you are simply praising him. Instead, try a firm tone. There is no need to yell at your dog as that might frighten him; however, a firm commanding tone should always be used so he will recognize that you are giving him a command. If you are the type of dog owner that talks to your dog frequently as many of us admittedly do he will need to differentiate your normal conversational tone from the tone you use when you mean business. If you do not differentiate; your dog will be confused and never realize he is being commanded to do so. Never phrase a command as a question he should know that an action is required on his part and that you are not simply asking him to do something.

Tone is important; however, equally important are the words you choose when giving a command. Your dog will do best with short and simple commands over full sentences. A simple sit, down and heal will always work better than using multiple words to get results. If you want your dog to go to his crate try pointing towards it and saying, crate. Do not say, who wants to go get in their crate or it’s time to go to your crate. Dogs can pick up on words, but they are not able to process full sentences. If your dog does respond to full sentences it is likely because your body language suggests the command or he has received praise in the past for completing a trick or command followed by the sentence.

Some dogs are smarter than others, but for the ones who seem hopelessly dull-minded a simple change in communication methods should yield surprising results. Always use body language, word association paired with physical placement, short commands and a firm tone and you will be well on your way to effective communication with your furry friend.

Article submitted by pet-super-store a site with pet doors, wood dog crates and dog stairs.