Best Dog Answers

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So you just bought an adorable St. Bernard puppy.  When you come home from a long day of work, he is going to be happy to see you.  As a puppy, he is small.  You may be inclined to pat your leg to encourage him to jump on you so you can pet him.  You may even allow his face in your face and exchange kisses.  No harm in all of this fun for now, right?  Wrong!!  What you just taught him is that all good things (petting, kisses, greetings) come from jumping up on people to say hello.  He is small and manageable now, but that is all going to change as he grows.  If this behavior doesn’t stop, you could have a hundred pound animal greeting your guests in such a maner.  And it wouldn’t be much fun for either of you.

Many people teach their dog bad habits or something they never intended for their dog to learn and don’t even realize they are doing this.  It is called unintentional training.  Have you ever seen someone telling their dog “SIT DOWN” and then the dog goes into a “DOWN” position?  This is a result of unintentional training.  Dogs will typically do the last command they are told, so when your dog goes into a “DOWN” instead of a “SIT” because you told him “SIT DOWN”.  It really isn’t his fault.  He is just doing the last thing you told him to do.  Another good example is when you want your dog to get off of the couch, bed, person or anything else you just don’t want him on.  We typically tell the dog to “GET DOWN” or just use the “DOWN” command, when we really want him “OFF” of whatever he is on at the time.  So instead of confusing the dog and using your “DOWN” command for everything, teach him an “OFF” command.  Dogs aren’t like humans and can’t distinguish what actions we want them to do using the same words.  Dogs learn from repetition and association and if we continue to use the same word for multiple exercises you will be setting your dog up to fail.  We need to think like a dog when it comes to their behavior and training them to accomplish certain tasks.  We need to keep the commands to a simple one word command whenever it is possible.  If the dog never gets to experience success then he will never truly learn what you want him to do.  So when you are thinking over a training plan for your dog, take a minute and make sure that what you want to teach your dog is attainable.  Then break it down into simple steps for him and make it fun for both of you.  Remember, always finish on a positive and you both will be looking forward to your next training session.