Say "YES" to the Dog!

Say Yes to the dog! Or why saying “No” may not be working.

One of my favourite walking places had security guards with dogs all summer. Apparently, they are there to prevent people from swimming in the lakes (although they are still there now and it’s not really an open water swimming weather anymore…). So, a couple of times a week, I would pull up by the Security Guard’s van, smile, make small talk about the weather and how he works too much (seriously the same guy was there for 3 weeks in a row with no breaks) and unload a bundle of three [very excited about the walkies] dogs next to the security guard’s van. I have to admit, one of them is still a puppy and she has the best Chewbacca impression [when she doesn’t get her way] on this side of the galaxy! Going past the security van with my jolly lot has resulted in security dogs barking (every single time), the security guy shouting “No”, the dogs stopping for a second or two (probably just drawing a deep breath) and the barking continued. Every. Single. Time.

Now, think about it from the dog’s prospective… I often hear “No” or “ah-ah” when we don’t want the dog to do something, but we don’t tell them what to do instead and what behaviour is desirable/acceptable in that situation.

“No” may stop the unwanted behaviour temporarily, as the dog gets startled, however it does not address the problem, as the dog is not given an alternative behaviour to do…

Let’s take a dog who jumps up at family members, when the dog wants something, at visitors, when they arrive into the house, at people that they meet on walks.

A lot of the time, when the dog jumps up, they try and get attention, so saying “No” in these circumstances is actually fulfilling the dog’s need for attention (negative attention is still attention). So, is the dog going to stop jumping up? Unlikely.

How about if we teach the dog to sit when they see a new person? Or even just four paws on the floor (and make that a very rewarding thing to do); is that going to stop the dog from jumping up? It is a lot more likely, if you put some work into it.

When one of my dogs does something I don’t want them to do, I always think “What do I want them to do instead?” and make that behaviour a lot more rewarding, like giving my adolescent terror (typo, I meant terrier) chicken for sitting, instead of humping my middle-aged Labrador…

The security dogs are still there and still barking, with the handler shouting “No” … Although he has added “Quiet!” to his repertoire.

If there are any behaviours that your dog does that you want to stop saying “No” to, please get in touch: info@dogsbedogs.co.uk