A well-behaved dog is a happy owner. Unfortunately, the most common way to educate a dog is to yank, hit, or have him smell his feces.
Violence is never a good solution, but then, how to educate a dog without having to resort to violence?
Violence, in all pedagogical actions, causes fear, anxiety and provokes aggression. It is important to create a positive relationship between the dog and its owner so that obedience does not spring from fear, but from affection: only in this way will education produce results. This is not to say that one should not punish. If the dog has done something wrong, he must be reprimanded and punished so that he does not do it again. It is possible, however, to punish without using violence.
How to educate the dog without resorting to violence?
When starting to work on dog education it is important that family members agree on the language that will be used for this purpose and that everyone undertakes to always use the same language, that is: to have a common language. Each order is associated with one, and only one, word. Dogs don’t understand synonyms!
In addition to this, attention must be paid to non-verbal language, especially the tone of voice and caresses. We must use a decisive tone of voice and a grave timbre, it is the only way to express authority. A high-pitched or insecure tone of voice could make your dog nervous or incite him to disobey.
The caresses acquire a different meaning depending on where they are made, on the neck it is a gesture of affection, along the neck it is a compliment that the teacher addresses to his pupil, on the back it is an encouragement that spurs the animal, on the belly it is an act that calms the puppies. It is important to know how to use the caresses in the right way so as not to confuse the dog, in fact if used with knowledge they will make the dog feel that he is well-liked and he will obey his master.
In general, the orders given to the dog should be short and concise and the training daily and constant. It must last between 10 and 15 minutes, every day, to ensure that the dog does not get tired, however, there must be no “days off” at least until the dog has been fully educated.
In order for the puppy’s education to be consistent, one cannot move on to the next exercise without having mastered the first one perfectly, even if it is boring, and it is better to conclude the lesson with an easy exercise or one that the dog already knows perfection to avoid the feeling of failure. You have to be fair to the dog and not punish him without reason or lengthen the lesson too much if there is no need.
How do you do it?
When we begin to educate the dog, we must follow four basic commands: foot, sit, back and ground. “Foot” is an order that is given to the dog when walking in the street. The dog must walk with his head at the level of the knee of the owner and get used to the variations of the step.
It is not, in fact, the owner who has to adapt to the dog’s rhythm, on the contrary, it is just the opposite. When the order to “sit” or “down” is given, the dog must sit or lie down and remain in this position until the command to “come back” is given. To put each of these commands into practice, you must force the dog to follow them and reward him when he obeys.
The training must continue until the dog is now able to obey only with the voice and without reward. When a dog obeys basic commands, then we can say that he is well behaved.
Despite being polite, my dog continues to misbehave, how do I scold him?
If the dog behaves badly, he must be reprimanded but without resorting to violence, but with a categorical “NO”, with a tone of voice, verbal expressions and an attitude of reproach. Sometimes we can use an object that is unpleasant for the puppy, for example a water gun. If it does something wrong, we spray it with the jet of the gun, until it stops doing it.
In the event that we are dealing with dogs that enjoy company, a punishment could be to isolate him in a room for five minutes and, since it is not something he likes, he will no longer do what bothers us.
It is very important that punishments have a body (if he does something wrong several times, we must reprimand him every time he makes the same mistake) and must be put into practice at the very moment in which the mistake occurs. If we let time pass, the dog will no longer link punishment to mistake, and the only effect of punishment will be to confuse him.
And if he behaves well, how do I tell him?
When dogs behave well or obey orders, we can reward them with food, their favorite toy, or a kind word and a caress. The point is that during the training we must gradually move from food to words, to avoid that he obeys only for gluttony.
It is important that dogs receive positive stimulation so that they obey and behave correctly.
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