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Dog Training in The Orlando Area With Paul J Pipitone
Frequently Asked Dog Training Questions
My dog just doesnt listen to me. How can I begin to fix this?
The reason your dog isn't listening to you is because you are speaking the wrong language. You speak English and your dog understands dog, not English. If a French foreign exchange student came to live with you and spoke only French, how would you communicate with him? Are you going to learn French in 24 hours or find another way to communicate?
It's the same situation with your canine. Since your dog can't really learn English, you must learn to speak dog.
Most people I visit try to deal with their dogs behavior issues as if he were a child. They try scolding, yelling, some even hit. (You should NEVER hit a dog. This will only communicate the wrong message.) You cannot have a reasonable conversation with a dog. It just doesnt work. In order to be a good pack leader to your dog, you must deliver clear signals as to what is expected from him. Once you learn to do that, you will be surprised at how fast your dog will listen to and obey your commands.
Should I be the Alpha dog by using brute force?
Absolutely not! The most powerful pack leaders are the ones that say and do the least. The way to gain control over your dog is to use calm relaxed quiet energy. Less is more. Besides, people who think they should alpha roll their dog usually wind up getting bitten, scratched, or hurt the dog physically. There are much better ways to be your dogs Alpha leader. Respect is what is lacking here. You can gain your dogs respect by using calm, relaxed energy instead of brute force.
Why is my dog showing aggression toward people or other dogs?
I get this one a lot. The other day I went to visit a client who told me that her dog was being aggressive toward her neighbors dog every time they are on a walk. We leashed up and went outside, my client holding the leash. As we passed by the neighbors dog, sure enough Jewels went wild, pulling, lunging, and barking. I asked the neighbor to be still with her 3 dogs and I took the leash and began walking Jewels in the other direction. As we walked I guided her to walk by my side with some slight leash corrections and a few "good girls". After 5 or 10 minutes of this I walked past the neighbor once more only this time Jewels just glanced over at them and continued walking next to me and in fact kept looking up at me as we past by. Once again I said "good girl".
The difference was simple. My client's energy was all wrong. She was very nervous and anxious about passing by the dogs, therefore, that bad energy was passed on to Jewels. A dog can feel what you feel. Fear, anxiety, nervousness are all weak energy in the dog world. A dog will react poorly if exposed to it.
We adopted this dog 6 months ago and she was great for the first 5. The past month she's become stubborn and willful and has developed several bad behaviors. What happened???
First off let me say thank you for adopting. The shelters have thousands of great dogs looking for a good home.
Here is what's going on...
When we bring home a shelter dog, we assume the worst has happened. She was beaten, mistreated, may have been kicked, left outside for days without food, neglected, etc, etc. One or all of these may be true. It's human nature to nurture. It's also human nature to be compassionate. We feel sorry for the dog so, we start off the first minute we bring her home with lots of love and affection. Followed by more love and affection. Hugs, kisses, more hugs, more kisses, let her sit on your lap constantly, feed her whenever she looks hungry, allow her free run of the house (since she was cooped up in that nasty 3 by 3 kennel for so long) and on and on and on. Unfortunately for the dog, this is not what she really needs. Doing all those things makes YOU feel better. Makes YOU very happy. YOU'RE satisfying YOUR need to nurture.
So several months go by and now the dog feels MUCH more comfortable in her new digs and starts feeling like she can do aaaaaaaaanything she wants. After all, MY humans love ME. They wouldnt DARE say no to ME or tell ME, I can't do something. I run this place they don't.
Fortunately for me, this usually spurs a phone call and keeps me employed. I'm not saying you can't love on, or give affection to your dog. It just cant be ALL you do. Teach your dog that there are rules in your house that even she has to live by. A calm, firm, loving leader will create a well - balanced, happy, canine family member.
"Creating well-balanced families one dog at a time."