How To Discipline A Dog
In spite of the renowned canine intelligence, dog's understanding is not at par with what humans have. A dog will not understand the reason why it was punished and vanished to a crate by jumping on an all dolled up master when jumping and giving sloppy kisses is its usual way of greeting.
How will you go about disciplining a dog to corrects its undesirable habits of barking and chewing excessively, of raiding trash cans and eating spoiled food, of tormenting smaller pets? Dogs are highly attuned to what humans feel thus these animals can easily interpret and understand the facial expression and body movement of human. A dog that had destroyed your favorite $500 bag will slink under the table when it sees the anger in your face. The dog may look repentant but the pet owner should not be complacent as the dog's bad habits will surface again and again. It is not always possible for pet owners to constantly supervise the dog thus to prevent the pet from being destructive it has to be disciplined. After seeing the destruction or the mess created by the pet, the dog owner may physically punish or scream at the dog however, this will not accomplish anything more so if the destruction was done much earlier. The dog would not learn anything and would never associate the smacking to the bag-chewing incident.
It is necessary to make the dog understand that human are the leaders of the pack. The dog has to learn that it is lower in rank and therefore must follow the rules set by the leader. Training would do a lot in preventing development of inappropriate behavior. This training is best started while the dog is still young and has not yet formed destructive habits. In a firm and clear voice, teach the dog to obey commands that will modify a wrong behavior.
Diversionary techniques that will result to the dog's aversion to the destructive behavior are effective methods of disciplining the dog . A spray bottle filled with cold water and Bitter Apple are effective tools that disciplines the dog not to manifest a destructive behavior.
It would be best to reprimand and correct the dog while the destructive act is being committed. Commands such as Stop, No and Leave it will prevent the dog from doing its destructive act. Disciplining the dog cannot be accomplished at once but consistent training that is reinforced with lots of praise and treats will eventually modify the dogs unwanted behavior.
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