Its the little things that count - Dog Training in Milton

Often we are unaware that we are encouraging behaviours that we dislike in our canine companions, rewarding unwanted natural behaviours and allowing the dog to train us, rather than the other way around. It's the little things that count, as far as dogs are concerned, and the little things to dogs are a lot more meaningful and less subtle than we really realize.

Take, for example, the hanging hand off the side of the couch that goes automatically to pet the dog pawing and mouthing at it. The soft, "it's okay", when a dog is whining in it's crate, or the less subtle dog straining at the end of the lead to see the oncoming dog or person and the dog is given more leash and the freedom to socialize.

All of the above examples are actually rewarding behaviours that most people would at the very least, find annoying, or in the extreme, find dangerous.

As humans, we have a bad habit of rewarding behaviours that we really don't realize we are rewarding. Reward doesn't always come as a treat, reward can come as something as simple as eye contact, a touch or a social interaction. It is really imporant when dealing with dogs, to be aware of what behaviours we are rewarding, conciously or unconciously. 

When you reward behaviours with social interaction, play, attention, physical contact, treats etc., the more often those behaviours will occur. The opposite obviously occurs when you ignore or correct a behaviour. So it is extremely important to be aware of what is rewarding to your dog in all situations. In the above example of straining on the leash to meet another dog or person, if you allow the dog to interact socially after dragging you down the street, you are rewarding that very behaviour that could get you in trouble.

Sometimes owners need to take a step back and look at their dogs behaviour from a different stand point. Many times bad/unwanted behaviours are caused by inadvertent rewards on that part of the human. So be aware of the little things, no matter how small they seem.

www.smartdogsk9.com