Establishing Trust with Your Dog

Establishing Trust with Your Dog

Ways to Gain a Dog's Trust

How do you make your dog like you?

How do you bond with your dog?

How do dogs like to be petted?

 Picture Buddy chasing a cat across the road. Your heart is in your mouth
because you’re afraid he might get hit. When he finally returns, you’re angry
and soundly scold him for chasing the cat and giving you such a scare. How
does Buddy look at this situation? First, he chased the cat, which was fun.
Then he came back to you and was reprimanded, which was no fun at all.
What you wanted to teach him was not to chase the cat. What you actually
taught him was that returning to you is unpleasant.

One of the commands you want your dog to master is to come when called.
To be successful, remember this principle: Whenever your dog comes to
you, be nice to him. Don’t do anything the dog perceives as unpleasant. If you
want to give him a bath or a pill, don’t just call him to you. Instead, go get
him or call him, and then first give him a cookie before the bath or pill.
No matter what he may have done, be pleasant and greet him with a kind
word, a pat on the head, and a smile. Teach your dog to trust you by being a
safe place for him. When he’s with you, follows you, or comes to you, make
him feel wanted.

If you call him to you and then punish him, you undermine his trust in you.
When your dog comes to you on his own and you punish him, he thinks he’s
being punished for coming to you. You may ask though, “How can I be nice
to my dog when he brings me the remains of one of my brand-new shoes, or
when he wants to jump on me with muddy paws, or when I just discovered an
unwanted present on the carpet?”

We can certainly empathize with these questions, having experienced the
same and similar scenarios on many occasions. We know how utterly frustrating
a dog’s behavior can be. What we have discovered and accepted is
that at that moment in time the dog doesn’t understand that he did anything
wrong. He only understands your anger — but not the reason for it. As difficult
as it may be, you have to grin and bear it, lest you undermine the very
relationship of mutual trust you’re trying to achieve through training.

Punishment after the fact is cruel and inhumane. Even if the dog’s behavior
changes as a result of being punished, it changes in spite of it and not
because of it. The answer lies in prevention and training. Prevention means
providing the dog with plenty of outlets for his energies in the form of exercise,
play, and training. It also means not putting the dog in a position where
he can get at your brand-new pair of shoes. Training means teaching your dog
to sit on command so that he doesn’t jump on you .