Day after day I watch folks with dogs, trying to figure out the question I get at least once a week….why is my dog so great for you and so bad for me? Of course, there are a bunch of reasons for this but a main one is that – I go out of my way to acknowledge a dog trying to do the right thing….while so many parents expect the dogs to get it right 100% before acknowledging the same behavior.

For example, if I’m working in the humane society and want to stop a dog from barking. I will stand near his kennel and anytime he takes a breath between barks – or looks at me – or does anything else but bark – for even a split second, I’ll toss him a treat. I do this 5 times. Then I repeat the activity but this time I hold the treats while the dog looks at me for 2-3 seconds – repeat 5x. At this point the dog is choosing to look at me rather than bark* so here is where I’ll add a word or cue. Add a word and ask your dog to hold his or her look at you for a few seconds longer – then longer, if you keep practicing you’ll have a dog who will chose to stop barking on cue.

If you ask your dog to come to you and they are facing the opposite direction but flip an ear your way…acknowledge that ear flip! They are trying to make a decision (and technically coming away from freedom or something fun is a hard decision) and helping them make the right one will make the behavior happen a great deal faster in the future.

Remember you are working with your dog to help them learn….you are not trying to make it hard, set them up for failure or challenge them in a way that makes them defensive – you’re in this together!

*If your dog is ignoring the treat and choosing to bark – the treat is not valuable enough – change it out with something better.