How to Teach your Dog to be Quiet in Social Situations
Hi everyone, it's certainly been a while since I posted a blog but you may find this helpful if you don't know it already of course ;)
Imagine yourself in this situation...
One sunny day you decide to try out the
new local dog-friendly cafe (we have a few doggy-friendly cafes in Tin Can Bay) and whilst you sit quietly enjoying your paper and sipping a latte, another dog comes along with its owner and goes inside to the counter to order. One of your dogs jumps up and starts barking while the other continues to lay calmly under the table....
Now, most people in this situation will be quite embarrassed at their dog's behaviour and try to get them to stop as quickly as possible thereby giving all their attention to the barking dog. This is exactly the wrong thing to do!
A much better way to properly train your dog to not react in this situation would be, ...however difficult...., to focus your attention on your dog that is behaving and exhibiting the desired behavior. Your doggy laying calmly under the table should be praised and given a treat, while your dog causing the commotion should be ignored by you - does this feel like it goes against the grain?
You may say at this point "Ah well, that's all fine and dandy but I only have one furry little friend".... but this method of reward rather than admonishment can be used in all sorts of different situations such as in teaching your dog to ignore other dogs while out walking and stay in the heel position without barking at every other passing dog.
To achieve this, each time you pass another dog and he doesn't react, reward him greatly with praise or a small treat.
Be consistent with your behaviour and you will see changes in your dogs' behaviour too.
It doesn’t take long before your once embarrassing pet will fully learn that not reacting is much more fun and rewarding than barking and getting told off by his beloved master.
Give it a try or reinforce your present rewarding behaviour and see how much more you enjoy taking your pooch out and about with you from now on :)
Thanks for reading! Why not grab a coffee and have a read of some of my previous blog posts.....
https://www.cuddlecarepss.com/blog-1