Why do we correct our dogs?Are we trying to make the dog submissive?Do we want to tell the dog that we are unhappy with the way they are acting?Do we hope for the dog to feel ashamed or bad at what he has done or his behavior?Probably not.
When all of the emotions are out of the way, like anger, disappointment, etc.
, we simply want our dogs to avoid things that are inappropriate.
We want the dog to be calm when guests arrive, rather than jumping all over them.
We want the dog to use the bathroom in the proper spot and not all over the house.
These are just some of the reasons that we correct our dog.
The problem is that dogs do not learn how to avoid doing certain things.
They only learn how to actually do new things.
So, a dog can learn to sit still; however, he learns this from being calm.
While you may think you need your dog to be inactive to settle down, you need him to be active.
The reason dogs usually end up in hot water is that they have natural instincts and tendencies.
They are appropriate for a wild dog, so you shouldn't be surprised that your dog becomes excited because strangers have arrived or that you have come home.
It's quite normal for your dog to get into things or tear things up when he is left home alone, or even to pull anxiously when you are walking him.
These are not bad behaviors and they don't mean that you have been a bad teacher.
Many people who see this kind of behavior in their dogs wonder what they are doing wrong as far as teaching and training the dog.
The truth is that it has nothing to do with the teaching or training usually.
They are simply natural traits.
The issue is within us, not the dog.
Rather than trying to teach the dog not to pull on the leash, we need to teach the dog to focus on us although there are many distractions.
So, we want our dog's full attention to be on us even though he is being exposed to many different things that, in his opinion, are worthy of notice.
Instead of telling our dogs not to jump up on visitors, we need to show them what the proper thing is to do.
So, rather than trying to stop the bad behavior, we can replace that behavior with a good behavior that the dog will do instead.
We can also train him to have an unfaltering focus rather than telling him to stop barking, stop wagging, etc.
With this kind of focus, the dog can be commanded to settle.
Through steady use of this kind of training, the dog can be conditioned to use calmness rather than hyperactivity when he wants something.
Analyzing what we want our dog to accomplish, we can figure out how to train them to do certain things in order to accomplish those desired behaviors.