Why You Should Never Hit Your Dog- Even When Training by Adam G. Katz

Why You Should Never Hit Your Dog- Even When Training by Adam G. Katz

Dear Adam:

I will try and make this short and include only the details I think will help. I HAVE read the entire book on line. I will pick up all of the tapes along with the book when I come to USA in May.

I live in a third world country. Most of the dogs here are wild, mixed breed or mistreated.

We went to another part of the country to obtain a pure bred dog. He is bred to guard sheep... an older breed and very large. Our dog is 9 weeks old and most of the time is good... just regular puppy stuff.

My problem is that I cannot obtain a pinch collar or anything else for giving corrections until I come to USA in May. Sometimes our dog is very aggressive if wanting to do opposite of what we want. Seems he is challenging more often and with greater aggressiveness...snapping and biting. These dogs here are very UN-domesticated! Any suggestions on how to give a correction with hitting? I growl, spit in food. Don't have kennel or crate yet. Need to find materials and build one...difficult here. Help.

He is smart and I don't want to give up yet, but I feel like I am doing everything wrong without proper correction tools. Thanks in advance.

- Paula

Dear Paula:

Never hit your dog.

I have no idea why you cannot order dog training supplies from somewhere in Europe or have them shipped from America?

But regardless, hitting your dog is never appropriate.

In the meantime, you could go to a hardware store and make yourself a make-shift slip collar from either chain or rope. And improvise either a cord or rope as a leash. However, Id probably be remiss in stating that this should have been something you thought about BEFORE buying a dog.

Regardless, it is possible to train a dog without the proper tools. But its a lot harder especially for a beginner.

In the meantime, if he nips at you, you should say, No! and then grab the scruff of his neck and give a firm, quick pull and release. You may also try grabbing his ear and giving it a quick tug/pull.

Neither of these techniques are optimal. But given the circumstance, its the best I can recommend.

Also, please be aware that you should only be correcting biting and for housebreaking. Don't start formal obedience until the dog is 4 to 4 1/2 months old.

Good luck,
Adam.

To read more of my dog training ramblings, read about my book (click below): http://tinyurl.com/4efaq
Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer!
About the Author
Author, Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer! which you can read more about at:
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5 Ways Your Dog Senses The World Differently From You by Charlie Lafave

5 Ways Your Dog Senses The World Differently From You by Charlie Lafave

Do dogs sense things differently than humans do? Well, yes and no. Dogs share the same basic senses with us: they see, hear, touch, smell and taste. But the level of their senses is differentan important distinction when youre trying to figure out just what your dog is doing.

Sight
It was once thought that dogs were color-blind only able to see shades of black and white with some grey, but scientific studies have found thats not true. Dogs can see in color ranging from blues and greens to greys and crmes, and of course, black and white. Its been estimated that humans can distinguish somewhere between 7 and 10 million different colors. (We dont even have names for that many colors!)

Picture courtesy of Dr. Ps site: http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/dog.htm
But dogs have it all over humans in detecting motionthats one reason they can detect a cat up a tree at a much greater distance than you can! And their night vision is typically better than oursdogs have an additional reflective layer in the eye called the tapetum lucidum, which reflects light back into the receptor cells of the eye, which not only increases their night vision, but gives them that spooky appearance of eyes glowing in the dark.

Hearing
When your dog is barking like crazy in the middle of the night, dont just assume hes lonely and wants you to get up and keep him company. He may be listening to something that you cant hear, thats extremely upsetting to himlike a burglar breaking in your basement window.
Dogs can hear at four times the distance humans canthat means you might hear something from a 100 yards away your dog could hear from a quarter of a mile away. Their ears are also better designed to gather more of the available sound wavethey have 15 different muscles that move their ears in all directions, plus they can move one ear at a timeand independently of the other to absorb even more information!

Touch
Dogs also have a well-developed sense of touch, surprising perhaps under all that fur, although this sense is much less sophisticated than a humans. Puppies are born with sensory receptors in their faces so they can find mama even if theyre separated before they open their eyes. But they also can sense touch all over their bodies, just as humans can. One reason your dog flops down on the couch next to you and tries to snuggle up on a hot day (or any other day for that matter!) is because he likes the comfort of feeling that youre right there!

Smell
We cant even come close to our dogs ability to smell things. Its been estimated that a dogs sense of smell is 100,000 times more powerful than a humans. Scientists think that humans have about 40 million olfactory receptors, versus 2 billion for your dog! Thats part of the reason dogs make such good trackers, and can trace scents across all sorts of distractionslike across roadways or through dense woods.
Dogs also use their sense of smell as a communications toolwhen theyre running around the park with their nose to the ground, sniffing everything in sight, theyre actually reading the calling cards of everyonedogs, humans, cats, squirrels, and anyone or anything else, that has been there before him. Which is why he may not pay attention to you when you first get to the parkhes trying to see if any of his buddies have been there before him!

Taste
Just as with humans, taste is closely linked to the sense of smellthe main difference is humans wont eat something that smells bad; while dogs are the oppositethe smellier the better. Dogs will gulp first and ask questions later.
While humans many times wont eat something that doesnt look appealing, let alone doesnt smell good, dogs are more concerned with smell, than taste. They frequently gobble down food before they have time to chew it, let alone taste it. But thats okits why when we clean out our refrigerators our dogs think its time for treats.
So the next time your dog engages in some puzzling behavior, whether its barking for no reason, or ignoring you at the park, he might not be trying to irritate youhes just responding to a different level of senses than you are. Take a moment to look around and try and figure out whats triggering his behavior before you get mad. Your dog could be trying to tell you something!
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About the Author
Author, "Dog Training Secrets!"
To transform your stubborn, misbehaving dog into a loyal, well-behaving "best friend" who obeys your every command and is the envy of the neighborhood, visit: http://tinyurl.com/6u2cj