We spend a lot of our time wondering what is my dog doing? Why are they acting like this? My dog is so wild and jumps on everyone. Why?
This is your dog's current way of communicating a point to you. We may have missed all the subtle cues that our dog originally started with and then they kept trying new things to get what they wanted. Well, they found a way to get what they wanted...and we do not like it! Your dog is not being bad, they are not unruly like we think most of the time. Your dog has learned a way to communicate with you, and whether you like it or not it has worked for the dog. Typically, these are attention seeking behaviors. How do we change or modify the behaviors that we consider unwanted? The first step is recognizing the small cues that your dog is trying to get across first. Remember, the majority of communication by our dogs is non-verbal body language. Is your dog staring at you briefly while you are on your phone? Is your dog looking at you from the water bowl and needs a drink. Did their ears perk up when they heard the UPS driver or your family's car turn the corner to come down the street. These subtle cues are where the training needs to happen. Training after the fact or punishing after the fact will not change the behavior. These are learned Behavior Chains that our dogs have received reinforcement for. If not, they would not occur. How do we fix it? We take one piece of the behavior and change how the dog is reinforced, replace it with a more wanted behavior and place it into the environment.
Change the picture, change the behavior!
Stay safe and be careful in the hot weather. Keep your pups cool and hydrated.
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