Dog Training Tips: When You Are Upset or Angry
I imagine that most people get angry at our dogs sometimes, or upset over something they have done. I get annoyed at LarryDog when he barks and barks at the dog next door, or a bit upset when Lola destroys another plant from our garden. (We stopped growing carrots after she dug up and ate the whole crop, but that’s another story.)
When you are angry or upset, you should take a time out for yourself from the dog, whether you are training at the moment or not, till you can collect yourself. This needn’t be a physical time out – I often find that just turning away from my dog for a moment while I take a deep breath or two is sufficient. Try this sometime yourself.
The thing is that you are not likely to make the best choices in communicating while you are fuming. A simple firm “no” should be enough at that moment for just about any behavior you dislike. People often assume that if the dog did something that we would call “wrong,” that the dog will evaluate it the same way and understand that the reason we are screaming at the top of our lungs and waving our arms around is that he was “bad.”
Dubious, dubious.
People sometimes say, “But the dog looked so guilty…” Well, I am not positive that dogs feel guilt. It’s an emotion that is derived from doing something we know to be “wrong.” Do dogs think that way? My best guess is that when a dog looks “guilty,” he is probably reacting to your anger. He can certainly tell that you are not a happy camper at that moment, whether or not he has any clue about why. I think his responses are more to your body language than to the fact that, say, he pooped on the Oriental carpet sometime in the past ten hours while you were out.
Another common assumption is that this ranting act will teach the dog how you want him to change his behavior. If you just caught him doing something you don’t want him to, it could work – though arguably not as well as a more reasoned approach on your part.
So in sum: if you are angry with your dog, or upset with him, take time out to cool down. I think you will be glad you did.
Now that you have a dog, you know that there are many different problem behaviors that a dog may present; one of the most irritating is a dog barking problem
free answer for this problem
is to training a dog to correct problem barking behavior . One of these is to not react when there is a barking issue, such as the dog barking at the phone ringing or the doorbell. If the phone rings or the doorbell rings, the owner should sit there and not react to it, thus showing the dog that there is not anything to be stressed out about or alert to when those sounds occur. It is helpful to ring the doorbell or the phone regularly when training the dog to get used to the noise so that he can see that there is not a reaction needed when those sounds are heard.
Yes definately no training when you are upset or angry or just not feeling well. Dogs are very sensitive and it will just be very negative for your dog and your progress with his training. If you feel upset or angry, stop your training on a positive note with an exercise your dog knows well, and start again later when you feel better.
You are very right about this. Anger is something that should NEVER be exhibited when you are training or socializing with your dog. Please, never resort to hitting your pet also!
-Montie Skaggs
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