We were at a Dog Training revisit session with a family in Coral Springs last week and their dog that was fine when we had left the first time had gone back to showing the same bad behavior we observed at the beginning of our first session. The entire family was there for our current visit and we observed that the family dynamics was “nuts”. Everyone was all over the place. At one point the mother looked at us and asked “Can our family be making our dog go nuts?”
To paraphrase Charlie Sheen... "Duh, Yes!"
We always try to reinforce the idea that in order to have your dog learn, you must first establish a calm and consistent environment. This will allow your dog have the opportunity to provide focus and allows you to have the opportunity to command that focus. Your ability to show a passive, assertive nature towards your dog will naturally have him drawn towards you as the one telling him what to do next.
Guess what, if the environment is full of yelling and screaming, you can’t be focused on your dog and he will naturally draw away from “crazy you”. What is imperative is that your entire family take a deep breath and “think good thoughts”. This will provide the essence of what is required to begin the respectful relationship between you and your dog. This can be really hard to accomplish, but let me provide you with some ideas:
- As a family, you (and I mean all of you) must have a family meeting to discuss how you want your dog to act. Make a list of rules that you will all agree is correct and you all will agree to enforce. If you feel that a rule might be too hard for everyone to enforce, change it before you begin.
- Review each rule and discuss how each family member will enforce that rule. It might be that a sibling just might not engage in a particular act that encourages the inappropriate action.
- Every family member must agree to their tasks and the results they wish to accomplish. This is not only for them, but for the greater good of the entire family.
- Have every member of the family work with your dog on a daily basis on one or more of the issues your family has identified. Have them work in teams so that they can make sure that they stay consistent.
As you are doing all this, be sure not to:
· Scream your dog
· Hit, kick, push, or do anything hurtful or frightening to him
· Play rough with him
· Give him treats to do what you want him to do.
As we always tell our clients, remain calm and stay consistent. This might sound really easy to do, but when you have a crazy family; it is hard to put into action. For more information on this subject or tips on other dog training issues, please call us at (954) 424-0170 or contact us at The Best Dog Trainers in Coral Springs and South Florida.
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