Dog Training Tips - Train Your Dog by Listening to Its Body Language

Dogs can neither talk nor truly understand the spoken word, they cannot be taught right from wrong (as we can) by learning from other people's experience. Furthermore, dogs cannot ask the all important questions, 'what?', 'when?', 'why? and 'how?'.There is no doubt that teaching and training dogs would be a doddie!

Although dogs are not able to talk, they do communicate by a truly sophisticated method- 'body language'. As a result, dogs have become very astute observers. They can detect minute changes in the attitude of humans, and this they often appear to be "reading" their owner's mind and be able to anticipate correctly what is about to happen. From a behavioral point of view, the significance of this is that if we are able to interpret THEIR body language and use our adaptation of their body language, together with words, when we teach them how we would like them to behave. The value of using gestures and words is often underestimated and is certainly far more effective than shouting! Another important implication of this fact is that we can, often unintentionally, encourage or "reinforce" a dog's behavior by an inadvertent word or gesture that the dog interprets as praise. A dog's emotions and intentions can be read by observing its stance, how it holds its ears and tail and its facial expression. It pays to observe your dog closely as a puppy and throughout its life so that you can interpret what it is likely to be "saying" to you. Some of the most common signs are explained below:

1. Ears

Pricked/erect pointing forward: Dog alert and listening

Held back to head: Submission, pleasure or ready to attack

Flat back or low on head: Fear

2. Eyes

Narrowed and half closed: Pleasure or submission

Wide open and staring: Threatening Soft-eyed sideways glance: Approval

3. Mouth

One-sided grin: A friendly greeting

Both lips pulled back to expose teeth: The start of aggression Head lowered not barking: About to mount an attack, advance carefully!

4. Body

Standing on toes, chest thrust forward, air on neck and along back erect: Aggression

Aggressive stance and barking with mouth open: Not certain and afraid of what you are going to do. Lying on back and possible dribbles of urine: Fearful of getting hurt.

5. Tail

Carried at 45 degrees or more higher than spine: Alert and interested Clamped down over bottom: Nervous and afraid Between legs and hind quarters crouched: Nervous and afraid Tail gently waving: Annoyed and thinking about bring aggressive Tail wagging - Happy and enjoying itself.

About The Author:

Jerry Yap has owned dogs as companion since childhood. He believes understanding your dog is very important to a fulfilling companionship from this loyal animal. He is now actively educating dog owners through two important aspects to a happy relationship, i.e. dog training techniques and suitable dog food.

He believes if you want to raise a dog then you must know the needs of different breeds of dog. His motto is "A Healthy And Trained Dog Brings Joy To The Whole Family".

Discover how to lengthen your dog's lifespan by 134%. Is it possible? For detail, check out my simple but straight to the point website http://www.Recipes4Pet.com

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