How to be your dog’s best friend

When living with dogs, relationship is everything. But whether you are getting an older rescue dog or a puppy, bear in mind that building a relationship can take time. 

Be patient, learn about your dog’s likes and dislikes, find out what excites them and what worries them. Of course, all dogs will have some basic traits in common. It’s pretty much a given that food will be rewarding, as will play – but every dog is an individual, so find out what particular foods and what kind of games your dog loves.

Here are some ways to help you become your dog’s best friend:

1. Be kind and patient

If your puppy pees on the carpet or a rescue chews the furniture, they’re not being naughty, defiant or trying to get back at you for something you did! They’re simply doing it because they’re a dog. They don’t know it’s difficult to get stains out of a carpet, or even why you have one except that it’s comfortable to lie on and absorbs pee rather well. It’s up to you to show them with kindness, and plenty of patience, what it is that you would like them to do instead. 

2. Use positive training methods

Modern training – showing your dog what you’d like them to do – is based on setting your dog up for success and rewarding them, rather than constantly correcting or punishing bad behaviour. If you bear in mind that behaviour that gets rewarded gets repeated, you won’t go far wrong, training will be fun, and your dog will enjoy being with you.

3. Be your dog’s ‘safe place’

Remember you are your dog’s guardian and guide. When socialising your puppy or introducing a rescue dog to their new environment, be encouraging but ready to take a step back if they seem unsure. It’s a myth that you shouldn’t comfort a scared dog. If your dog is afraid of something and looks to you for reassurance, be ready to offer it.

4. Find out what your dog enjoys and do lots of it

Give your dog outlets for their natural behaviour. While many dogs will enjoy a wide range of games and activities, it’s likely that dogs bred for a specific purpose will find some activities intrinsically rewarding. If you have a sighthound, give them the opportunity to chase with games of fetch or playing with a flirt pole. Fetch is also a great game for most Retrievers! By contrast, a herding breed is likely to find controlling movement naturally rewarding (think of all those sheep being rounded up) so find out about herding ball games or play human tag. For those of you with terriers, think about creating a digging area in the garden with hidden toys or treats. Some dogs just love to shred things, so give them the opportunity (and save on damage to your possessions) by hiding treats in cardboard boxes or crumpled paper. Those are just some examples – give your dog the opportunity to show you what they’d choose.

5. Learn to understand what your dog is telling you

When it comes to understanding your dog, it’s really important to learn to interpret their body language – the signals they display which can tell us something about how they’re feeling. Communication is key to all relationships. You can be sure your dog will be spending a lot of time trying to understand you.

6. Hand feeding

Dogs enjoy working for their food. One simple yet effective way to deepen your connection, help with training and give your dog a bit of a mental work-out is to stop using a bowl and hand feed all your dog’s meals. (That’s a lot of benefits from one simple process.) You can start very simply by giving them their food one piece at a time. It’s obviously easier if you are feeding them dry food but perfectly possible, if a little messier, with wet. You can gradually begin to turn mealtimes into fun training sessions.

7. Take the time

Whether it’s playing, training or simply relaxing together, however busy you are, find times when you can give your dog your undivided attention.

8. Trick training

When it comes to training your dog, one of the biggest influences on success is the relationship you share. The stronger your bond, the more successful your training will be. One way to supercharge your relationship is to engage in fun activities, and trick training is perfect as there’s no pressure to get it right. You’re just doing it for fun. Working on something new together will help you and your dog understand each other better and enhance your training skills – all of which will help when you’re training basic skills such as recall or loose lead walking.

9. Have fun!

Go on adventures to new places. Most dogs love the opportunity to sniff, so allowing some time for a sniffari, where you’re prepared to hang around while they sniff a new environment to their heart’s content, will make you the best buddy ever!

 

For more training advice, please visit our dog coach Vicky Carne's website.