The number one reason people leave their dogs in shelters or let them be lost in the street is: a bad behavior.
How many of you suffer from a dog you cannot control? Well, first we must understand the way dogs think. You cannot expect it to understand our words.
Mostly, they read your body talk, then they interpretate your tone. If you say its name with an angry voice, the dog knows you are mad, as he knows, he has done good, if you say it happily.
Dogs wish to please their owners, but we expect them to understand our language, when we should learn theirs.
Don’t hit him because you got angry at him! You must have a lot of patience to explain him many times:
This is the behavoir I will reward you with my voice, presence, treat, playing with him, or whatever the dog wants in that moment.
When we want a dog to behave, we should teach the dog that each time he does something right, we will reward him with whatever the dog wants in that moment.
Patience is a key element we need to develop.
Positive reinforcement does not mean to bribe a dog with treats, but to praise him and aknowledge his good work by giving him what he wants; only when he does the behavior you want from him.
If your dog does not want a treat, you need to learn what the dog really wants. As an initial praise food can be used, but sometimes a dogs wants: Love, caresses, play-time, voice appreciation such as good boy, etc. Do not spoil your dog as if it were a baby! It is not! The consequences will be purely disastrous.
There is a balance, and you will have to learn it through experience or by searching an trainer who believes in this type of training that does not inflict pain to your dog.
Let’s teach other people to understand positive reinforcement, so there can be less homeless animals.
You need to learn how to behave as an adult, and be the leader of your dog.
Take action: Sign this pledge at change.org
Update: Change closed the petition, but you can still do it. 🙂