Yellow Brick Dogs  Richmond, VA

NO!

If you work with dogs, you might be tempted to use the word "No" from time to time, or even a lot. It's so tempting, and it might even seem to be effective. However, "no" usually doesn't make much sense to dogs.

It's a simple process to teach a dog to do something. You get the behavior to happen, through luring, capturing, or shaping, and then you reward it. Add a few more steps, and you've got a behavior on cue. Easy. Your dog's only option, if he wants the reward is that one behavior. You say "sit" and the only way he can get to his reward is by sitting. It's simple and easy for the dog to understand.

Now, let's look at the other side. What does "no" mean? To us, it means we're doing the wrong thing. Fine. Feel free to tell your human friends "no" whenever you want (not that you'll get very far with them, either!). Dogs have a hard time figuring this out. We would have to say "no" to everything we don't want for the word "no" to make sense.

• No jumping
• No barking
• No mouthing
• No chewing
• No running away
• No jumping the fence
• No pulling on leash
• and the list continues...

Instead of telling our dog everything we don't want him to do, we can make our jobs as dog trainers much easier by just explaining to them (through training and rewarding) what we want them to do. Think of something your dog does that bothers you, then think of the alternative. Instead of jumping, teach him to sit politely, and gradually build up distractions so that he can sit for everyone he meets.

So, make life a little easier and tell your dog what to do!

Become a fan on Facebook!