The Communication Between Dog & owner

making sure to have that  clear communication line
 
There is no point in starting to do any training when your dog is in a high state of alert and arousal, his brain will not register anything you are asking of him, he will not even be able to register you at times. It will  all go straight above his head.
Getting frustrated and forcing the issue will make him more and more frustrated and anxious when you are trying to push him into a situation he is not mentally ready for, in fact instead you will most likely reinforce the behaviour you are trying to stop.
Calm the dog before you move on with the training and giving commands, or ask him to perform.
First and foremost though be calm yourself, breathe and relax. So for instance be calm before you walk, be calm before you say a command, be calm and confident when you lead a dog past other dogs, and be calm and confident when your dog is reactive and so on.
You must remain confident when your dog is nervous, anxious and scared, you must be confident for him.
You need to understand, that you have a lot of power over your dog’s emotions and mental state, and his high arousal, by using your energy and your inner calm.
It is all about trusting yourself to being in control, in charge, in manager mode to do the job on hand.
Trusting yourself to do the right thing is not something I can teach you, it is something which must come from you. It is about being assertive and seeing the outcome in your mind’s eye. Self-belief is something you need to practice.
Often certain breeds get blamed for unruly, aggressive, reactive behaviours, especially when it comes to big dogs, but in the end it is all to do with the person who his holding the lead. Of course, there are always exception and I would never white wash anything.
Do not expect the worst; if you do not belief in yourself why should your dog.  If you worry things will no doubt go pear shaped and the whole situation will blow out of proportion..
If you worry and stress in beforehand the lead attached to your dog is like a telephone wire sending all your confusing messages straight to your dog’s brain, which will put him on high alert straight away looking for the possible danger ahead.
It is a bit like walking up a flight of stairs stressing to see the manager and expecting the worst; your mind will be on the meeting, but not on the walk up the steps. So it is very likely that you will stumble J
Visualising a positive outcome is really helpful, believing in that outcome is a must, believing in your own capability of doing the right thing is a must.
So be that person your dog can trust to keep him safe in any situation.
Any relationship needs commitment and a whole lot of understanding. Understanding comes from listening, and I mean listening and hearing, and when it comes to dogs it comes through watching his behaviour..
Humans are prone to assume things, rather than trying to figure out what is truly going on.
We need to have a calm mind to take on board what is going on around us, if we are busy concentrating on other things we have no chance of truly hearing and listening.  This goes for our dogs too...
So there you go, be present, be in the now, be calm and enable your dog to be present with you.                                        
Enjoy your communication and wonderful inter-relationship with your special companion.
Unconditional love… a dog’s greatest gift to us.                                                            
​How about our unconditional love towards our dogs, our companion, in most cases it certainly is not unconditional.
Often it is still very much the master and the dog who does what he has been told, no matter what.
I hope that made you think .

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