Communicating with your dog

Dog training really has little to do with training a dog. Dog's aim to please. They love their owners and want nothing more than to do their every whim. However, it's common for dog owners everywhere to not fully understand how their dog is communicating with them. While dog's possess an amazing ability to be our favorite companion, they don't actually speak our language. Many dogs are re-homed because owners refuse to change their own life style or insist on poor communication with their dog because of their own laziness and selfishness.

Speaking to your dog is very easy. And I don't expect anyone to know how to do it. But, that's why there are personal dog trainers. And as any dog trainer would agree, dog training is people training, in reality. Never assume your dog's bad behavior is caused because the dog itself is not capable of being good. Seek out a trainer who understands dog language and be willing to make the changes necessary.

Humans speak primarily through words. But, even still, we are quite familiar with the importance of eye contact, hand gestures and actions. Dogs are slightly different. Instead of speech being their first form of communication, it is actions that definitely speak louder to dogs. Offering a reward for good behaviors and ignoring bad behaviors is a way to start communicating with your dog with out saying a word. It's also important to use many words around your dog. The average dog with minimal training can learn up to 165 words (according to animal discovery). But, with massive amounts of daily training, Chaser, a border collie, holds the world record for recognizing over 1000 words.

How much time you put into your dog is what will make the difference. And dogs do need a lot of your time. Spending time exercising, playing with and training your dog are all important parts of a dog's daily routine. Those three actions are a great way to communicate to your dog that you enjoy spending time with him and he, in turn, will be a more well-behaved dog.