8 Tips for Better Communication with Your Canine

Dogs are considered to be one of the most loyal and friendly animals that a person can own. They are also known to be very intuitive and often act as our best friends. However, due to a lack of communication, we may not always understand what our furry friends are trying to tell us. In order to have better communication with them, we must first understand how dogs think and learn. This article will provide eight tips on how to do just that!

1. Learn How To Speak Their Language

One of the best ways to improve your communication with your dog is by learning its language. Dogs communicate very differently than humans do, so it’s important that you understand what they are saying. Watch for body language and tone of voice in addition to listening to what they are saying out loud — just like children will change the pitch or volume of their voices when communicating different things.

2. Develop a Routine

By establishing a daily routine, you can help make sure that your canine friend knows what to expect every day, which makes them feel safe and secure (dogs need stability). You can include feeding times, playtime, exercise time, potty time (in case there is a potty accident), and more. Of course, your schedule will not always be the same every day, but if you stick to a general routine as much as possible it will go a long way toward improving communication with your furry friend.

3. Read Doggy Body Language

In order to understand some things that your dog is trying to communicate, try reading their body language. Dogs cannot tell us directly what they want or how they feel about something, so we have to rely on looking at certain behaviors in order to learn from them. For instance, a wagging tail usually indicates happiness and excitement, while laying down could mean they are tired or stressed out. If you look for these small signs throughout any given day, you can usually learn what your dog is trying to say.

4. Train Them Well

Along the same lines, puppy training classes are an excellent way to do better communicate with your dog. You can learn how they think and how to speak their language (with training drills). Most people enjoy puppy obedience class because it’s not only fun but also very helpful for both you and your furry friend.

5. Reward Good Behavior

If you want to encourage something specific from your puppy, it’s important to reward them with positive reinforcement, rather than punishing them for bad behavior. If you catch your canine doing something good (like sitting on command or coming when called), give them some type of praise and a small treat, so they know that this is the type of behavior that you want more of! This way, they will be inclined to act accordingly whenever you ask them to do anything throughout the day.

6. Don’t Punish Too Harshly

It’s important not to punish your pet harshly if he or she does something wrong because then he or she likely avoid doing that same thing, but not because they understand that it is wrong — he or she will simply be afraid of you. If you want to correct bad behavior, do so in a manner that does not involve yelling, hitting, or otherwise scaring your furry friend. Instead, show him or her what the right thing to do is and give some type of treat afterward so that they know you are pleased.

7. Be Consistent

Similar to establishing a daily routine, it’s important to be consistent in the way that you train your dog. Use the same word for command and try giving it at the same time every day. If you change up when you give a command or what command to use, it will only confuse your canine! Consistency helps them understand what is expected of them and how they should respond. Furthermore, by being consistent with punishments as well as rewards, you can easily communicate with your canine friend without any confusion or misunderstandings.

8. Become a Pack Leader

If you want your furry friend to listen to you and obey what you say, it’s important that they view you as the pack leader. In an effort to make them happy and feel secure, we sometimes let our dogs do things that they are not supposed to do (like walk all over us). However, if your pet thinks that they are “the boss” it can lead to problems in the future when you try giving them commands. Your pooch will want to do what comes naturally to him or her, so it’s important to become the leader of your pack!

Following these tips will help you develop a better communication system with your canine friend. Dogs are very intuitive animals, and they can understand more than we think, but only if we make the effort to establish better communication with them. These ten tips will help get you started!