Obedience School For Dogs

         

Obedience School For Dogs - How To Discipline Your Dog Instead of Punishing Him

So you want to turn your frisky puppy into a well-behaved pet, and are wondering if there's such a thing as an obedience school for dogs. Here are some tips that will help you discipline your dog without punishing him.

Too often, dogs do not understand why they are being punished, or what they did wrong, what behavior produced the punishment. Dog owners are unrealistic in expecting their little pups to think far beyond the animal's mental capacity.

Owners may believe their dog knew what he was doing wrong because he had the "guilty" look on his face when the owner yelled, "WHAT IS THIS ON THE FLOOR!" while pointing to a mess.

The belief that the dog knew better incites the owner to severely punish him, despite the fact that the destruction occurred several hours before the owner got home - and the dog has absolutely no way of knowing that's what he did wrong.

Instead, the dog connects the punishment with the owner's coming home, not with the accident that took place several hours ago. The next day, the owner comes home prepared to find a mess, and the first thing he or she does upon arriving home is search the house for evidence of dog damage. And he goes about this with a look and attitude of someone searching for a pile of unmentionables.

The hunched over shoulders and wiggling nose, searching for a mess, make the person look mean and contorted. The verbal greeting may go something like, "So what did you destroy today?" The "guilty" look is the dog's response to the owner's weird behavior, and the anticipation or fear of the next punishment.

The dog is remembering previous inexplicable punishment. In his mind, greeting the owner at the door will result in it happening again. The dog forgot about the mess because he didn't connect it to being punished last time around.

So, now the question becomes this... Is therapy, or an obedience school for dogs going to teach your pet a way around this dilemma?

Punishing your pet long after the crime has been committed, rather than during or immediately after the act, has no purpose other than to confuse or make the dog fearful. Many owners report that they do not even suspect a problem when they walk in the door, and yet the dog still looks guilty.

Maybe there have been enough messes for the dog to realize that a mess on the floor is a good indication that a correction is approaching when the owner gets home. However, the dog cannot connect 'chewing at noon' with a punishment late in the evening.

There is no evidence to suggest that older dogs deliberately try and make their owners angry. Dogs misbehave because they were not taught proper behavior, or they are bored, frustrated, and anxious. Dogs chew, bark, or whine to satisfy their immediate needs and emotions, not to spite their owners. Dogs, overall, want to please their owners, show affection, and not spite them. That's why an obedience school for dogs isn't likely to be filled up very soon.