petorama

Ask Yvette

Dear Yvette

Please help. We have a young dog who is out of control. Benny is friendly, but he is too friendly. He wants to visit with everyone. Benny loves people. He loves other dogs. He loves cats. Benny will cover everyone with kisses. But it gets annoying. How do we get him to behave without crushing his spirit?

Sue

I can easily point to dozens of people who wish they had your dilemma. There is a lot to be said about having a friendly dog. Ask anyone who has a shy or aggressive dog. They would trade their right arm to have friendly and silly.

It always makes me cringe a little when some people swear an obedient dog will not bite. Obedience has nothing to do with it. Friendliness does. I can clearly recall one person who bragged they walked their dog off leash because it obeyed so well. Their complaint was the dog snarled at anyone who came close. It seems some people lack the mental capacity to see the danger in this situation. Who cares if the dog is obedient if it bites?

Obedience does hold an important place. It makes for happier owners. After socializing, step two is manners. Some people call this obedience. A dog does not need to be an obedience champion to know some basic rules. But it does help to teach a dog properly from the start.

For dogs over the age of six months who have not attended classes, this usually involves a level one obedience class. Sometimes they are called, “adolescent” classes. These dogs generally get along well with others, but need to begin to learn how to ignore distractions.

You can probably expect to start with exercises such as, “sit” and “leave it.” Those two exercises are in my opinion are two of the most important words your dog needs to understand well. “Sit” is an obvious skill. “Leave it,” means, “Back away from what you want.”

There are numerous uses for those two skills. As the dog gets the hang of the exercises, they learn to sit for visits. A sitting dog cannot be jumping. When passing people, other dogs or cats when on walks, you can ask your dog to “leave it.”

You can also use, “leave it,” when your dog spots leftover garbage on the ground. It is a far better option than shoving your hand into a dog's mouth. Having a “leave it” command gives you far more control than chasing your dog, begging, dragging or yelling. You ask, and they comply.

There are other exercises that you likely will work on. Being able to call your dog is standard. “Sit” turn into “stay” for greater control. You learn to teach your dog to lie down on command. Walking nicely on a leash is usually taught.

In my experience, dogs that know what to do, calm down. Dogs that do not understand the lesson get hyper or distracted. You need to become skilled at teaching and coaching in a way the dog can understand.

Successful dog handlers are good at what they do because they act. Novice pet owners react after the fact leading to poor results. With a little bit of coaching, most people find that training a dog can actually be fun and effective. You do not have to crush a dog's spirit if you use humane methods.

Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

Previous Questions

• Dear Yvette A friend at work was sharing a ...
• Dear Yvette, I am almost 7 months pregnant and...
• Dear Yvette, My dog pulls. What type of colla...
• Dear Yvette Our dog ducks his head when we rea...
• Dear Yvette, We back onto a large green spac...
• View All Questions