Motivation for Disciplining Dogs

Dogs need to be taught what are the correct and/or incorrect actions, in other words, they need discipline. Now well, this word is usually associated to the image of the strict teacher or the severe father and a dog should obey us because it trusts us and is motivated and so, eager to collaborate and never because the dog is afraid of punishment.

You should never use the physical punishment to train your dog; however, dogs have suffered, along history, cruel and unnecessary punishments that only a loyalty like theirs have made our friendship possible up to our days. In fact, there is no reason for shouting at them, because the shouting startles and scares most dogs.

If you want your dog to collaborate, motivate it through rewards and congratulate it for its successes. Never forget it is only a dog and you should express yourself in a comprehensible way for it.

If you have difficulties training your dog, or it begins showing any problem of the animal's behavior, ask the veterinary to recommend you a specialist in canine conduct or training.

If an animal is capable to lodge high and tender feelings and these feelings are also capable of improvement through education, then that animal deserves to be a part of our society. The dog has all the abilities worthy of attention on their highest level.

Count of Buffon, Spoken Address, 1753.

THE Dog's BODY LANGUAGE Sometimes, when two dogs find each other, they use gestures to show themselves as dominant or submissive. One of them may try to put one of its front paws, or the two of them, on the other dog's coat or get on top of it. With less frequency, the dog that tries to submit the other one will express it by leaning its head on the other dog's coat or neck. Most of the times, the dogs solve their problems with no violence involved and both of them end up playing or taking different ways. In fact, fights usually take place because of the intervention of the owners, interfering in that way with the complex sign system used by the dogs to solve the situation, code that both of them perfectly know and understand.

ANXIETY AND SUBMISSION Feelings When the dogs feel fearful, anxious or want to show themselves submissive, they get their whole body closer to the floor. They will probably lower their ears and tense their lips in a characteristic submission smile. Their eyes can get slated turning into narrow grooves and the tail keeps low and even folded to the inside part of the legs. In order to express the highest degree of submission, they lay on a side or on the coat and they may eliminate a little bit of urine hoping to calm down the dog that is frightening them.