Are You the Cause of Your Dog’s Behavior Problem?

Today we have a special guest post from Alecia Evans who writes our “Ask Alecia” column. Along with being the inventor of the Walk In Sync system, Alecia is a holistic dog trainer and soon will be teaching a three-week course titled 6 Secrets Your Dog Wants To Teach You To Unleash Your Greatest Potential.

Does your dog exhibit any of the following behaviors:

• Jumping up on people
• Putting his teeth on you
• Pulling on the leash
• Barking incessantly
• Refusing to share toys

These behaviors are the result of people – you – accidentally rewarding the undesirable behavior and encouraging it to continue.

Many dog trainers try to force these behaviors to change by using dominance and creating fear in the dog.  Although these methods might have short term benefits, they cause strain to the dog-human relationship that can result in unpredictable behavior from the dog.

What your dog needs from you is for you to establish your leadership position:

“Leadership is established when a pet owner can consistently set clear limits for behavior and effectively communicate the rules by immediately rewarding the correct behaviors and preventing access to or removing the rewards for undesirable behaviors before these undesirable behaviors are reinforced.” American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior

To assist you in this process, look for a trainer who is versed in the principles of humane learning theory and will work with you to create positive reinforcement practices with your dog.  In particular, look for trainers who:

• Avoid the use of sharp jerks on the leash to train the dog to walk on a leash
• Employ training techniques that make sense to the dog, from the dog’s perspective
• Teach you to use a gentle yet confident voice with your dog
• Refuse to use tools or techniques that create a fear-based response in your dog
• Support you to be a calm and confident leader no matter what breed of dog you have