Three Things to Never Do When Training Your Dog or Puppy

Let's be honest. There are literally volumes of don't s to keep in mind when it comes to training a dog or puppy. However, some mistakes seem to be made repeatedly, even by those with the best of intentions. Listed here are three common training mistakes that will not only have a negative effect on training, but could have a negative effect on your dog's life!

Striking, spanking, or other negative physical contact

This infraction is at the top of the list because not only is it an ineffective training tool, it's completely pointless and downright cruel to the animal. Striking a dog sets a very poor example for children and serves no other purpose than making the dog fear you enough to develop a host of behavioral issues such as lashing out in self-defense, urinating when approached, or shying away from human contact altogether. The ideas of smacking a puppy with a rolled up newspaper for chewing on a shoe, belt-whipping a dog who performs poorly in the hunting field, or rubbing a dog's nose in his own urine or feces as punishment for defecating on the living room floor are archaic, barbaric notions that, sadly are commonly employed today. The only (and this cannot be stressed enough) instance where a dog should ever be dealt with in a negative physical manner is if the dog is attacking you or another person or animal. Of course, this is not so much a training measure as it is a defensive measure, but it bears mentioning because it truly is the only occasion physical violence should ever be exercised against a dog.

Repeatedly shouting out the same command over and over

This training mistake isn't cruel-just completely ineffective. If your dog didn't listen to you shouting "Hilda! Come!" the first time, she's not going to listen to you the 10th, 2oth, or 100th time. The only thing that's going to happen if your dog isn't listening (or simply doesn't know the command!) is that you're going to get extremely frustrated and/or hoarse and end up making a total fool of yourself. Also, the continued repetition of an unrecognized command could desensitize your dog to that particular command should you decide to actually teach/enforce the command later down the road. If your dog doesn't obey your command the first time, stop yelling and start thinking about what you can do to remedy the problem.

Speaking to your dog like a human being

We've said it before and we'll say it again: dogs do not speak English (or any other human language), nor do they understand the meanings of obedience commands. This does not mean that your dog shouldn't be expected to "sit" once you've taught it to "sit." This means that if there were some way for you to ask your dog, he would not be able to provide you with the dictionary definition of "sit." All he would know is that when he hears a word that sounds like "sit," he follows that word with the action he's always associated with "sit." In day to day life, there's really nothing wrong with speaking to your dog. Much good comes to those who tell their dogs secrets or spill their problems to them. Dogs are fantastic listeners, and for good reason-they don't understand what you're saying, so they can't answer back! Again, there's absolutely nothing wrong with chatting away to your dog as you get ready for work or putter around the house, but there is something wrong with addressing your dog in human sentences when you really want it to listen to you and understand what you want from it. There's nothing more frustrating than listening to someone chastising their dog by saying: "Cassie! How many times do I have to tell you not to pull on the leash! You bad, bad dog, I just can't take you anywhere! Now come on, stop pulling. Cassie! If you want your treat later, you'd better behave." Let's face it-out of that entire tirade, the only thing Cassie probably understood was her name.

Everything else literally went in one ear and out the other. Not only did Cassie only understand her name, she was probably made all the more excited by the fact that her excited owner was calling her name over and over again. Time to play! Time to pull on the leash some more! Most people only address their dogs this way if they're in public, because they want people to think they're really making an effort to keep their misbehaving pet under control. Yes, your dog might understand from your tone of voice that you're angry, but again, they'll have absolutely no clue what you're saying or why you're angry. All addressing your dog in human terms really does is make you look like an utter fool and an unsuccessful dog owner. Save the conversations for moments when you're not needing to get your dog under control, and just cut to the chase if you really want to save face!

Now that you've familiarized yourself with the top three don't of dog training, check out the corresponding dos in the follow-up article: "Three Things to Do When Training Your Dog or Puppy."

About The Author: Barry S. Mcgee is a pet enthusiast. His site at: http://www.squidoo.com/petcareonline covers all areas of dog training. For answers to all your puppy and dog training questions, please visit: http://www.squidoo.com/petcareonline

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