4 Things Frustrated Dog Owners Should Know

You抳e probably had a day or two when you felt like your dog just wasn抰 paying any attention to you at all, right? You talked, you yelled, you shouted, maybe you jumped up and down and waved your arms, but she just wasn抰 interested in anything you had to say to her in any tone of voice. You抮e not alone.

1. Your dog isn抰 human.

Unless you believe in pet psychics, there抯 really no way for you to read your pooch抯 mind and figure out exactly what she抯 thinking. The good news is that, like many dog owners, the problems you抮e having can probably be traced to one simple thing: you抮e trying to communicate with your dog from a human standpoint, and your dog isn抰 a human. Sure, you know that, but lots of humans try to relate with their dogs in the ways that they think are rational as humans. The problem is that dogs are driven in every act and every moment by very strong instincts. Deciphering those instincts and leveraging them to build a productive relationship is like finding the keys to the city.

2. Your dog doesn't speak English.

Take the word 搉o,?for example. Does your dog speak English? Not understand English. Does she speak it? What抯 meaningful to her is your tone of voice, not the word itself. Now let抯 think about that ?we抮e taking up excess time trying to teach our dog a word she抣l never speak and that probably doesn抰 mean much to her anyway. Sure, it抯 meaningful to us, but that抯 only one side of the equation. What about something that抯 meaningful to both human and dog?

3. You know what a growl means, and your dog knows what a growl means.

If you think that mutually meaningful language doesn抰 exist, you抮e not thinking creatively enough. What does it say to you when a dog growls at you? Anything from 揼et away from my food?to 揵ack off, dude,?right? Yet in every case, a dog抯 growl typically means that she is not happy with whatever you抳e done. And you抳e seen dogs react to other dogs?growls, right? So you know what a growl means, and your dog knows what a growl means. Where抯 the disconnect? Growl at your dog!

No, seriously. The next time your pooch starts stepping outside her bounds or doing something you don抰 like, growl at her. A nice, strong, guttural growl that would put the alpha wolf in a pack to shame. While you抮e growling, look directly into her eyes. You抮e almost guaranteed that she抣l back off.

4. Instincts save time and communicate effectively.

See that? You worked with her instinct and the information hardwired into her brain, and the result was instantaneous. Why spend tons of time trying to work against that instinct and end up frustrated, angry, and still miscommunications? This approach works in everything from basic discipline to full-on obedience training. You just need to figure out how to apply it in each of those situations.

I抎 like to help you learn to apply it, and that抯 why I created the multimedia presentation Instinct vs. Man. It addresses day-to-day life with your dog as well as specific topics like playtime, training, and territory. Beyond that, you抣l get some great insight into why your dog thinks the way she does and how it affects her actions and reactions. You抣l understand why those months of training stopped working after a few weeks and how to get her back into the routine and acting like the fun, upbeat dog you love.

Janet Combs www.special-dog.com

If you a looking for a an informative book dealing with how to communicate more effectively with your dog than you can't go past "Instinct vs. Man Why Your Dog Thinks and Acts Like He Does" We highly recommend it:

www.special-dog.com