communicating WITH your dog

learning to communicate with your dog is the best thing you can do as a pet parent!

whereas humans predominantly communicate with words, your dog naturally uses body language and verbal cues to share what they are thinking and feeling.

as you observe each other, you'll get better at communicating what each of you needs or wants. as the pet parent, you'll want to teach your dog that certain sounds and gestures should get a particular response from your dog.

hosting friends and family is a great motivation (with a deadline) to train your dog;

show off the work that you and your pet have put into communicating with each other!

two great commands to work on before hosting are LEAVE IT and PLACE.

before I jump into these, tune out the voice in your head saying "not my dog."

remember that your dog is a reflection of you because they look to you for guidance.

you didn't come out of the womb knowing how to communicate and neither do dogs.

so get yourself a trainer, find classes, or start with YouTube. my YouTube gurus are Will Atherton and Tom Davis

***everyone learns differently so you might have to try a few approaches and it can take a few weeks so give yourself and your dog plenty of grace.

NOTE: you should train in a calm, quiet space to start and slowly introduce more variables such as music and other people.

LEAVE IT means do not to touch, and refers to something they are sniffing.

while you're hosting, this might refer to foods and drinks. this might also be used when your dog is sniffing kids’ toys or what your dog might perceive to be a toy. so if your uncle brings that autographed baseball to tell his story about meeting Kyle Schwarber for the 100th time (and it becomes more far-fetched each time), your dog might see that ball as a toy, but when your pup sniffs that autograph, and hears LEAVE IT, your uncle's "glory days" can live on.

PLACE refers to a bed or a crate.

Use this command when guests are at the front door, coming or going. Your dog stays in their place rather than wandering out the door or jumping on guests.

If you want to level up your PLACE, use the sound of the doorbell as a cue for your dog to go to their bed or crate. you might place treats by the door (out of reach from your pup) to toss to your dog once the door is shut.

this form of education between you two not only grows your bond, but grows intelligence! when dogs use their brains, they are more likely to be calm because they exert their energy in a focused manner.

if thinking about dog brain, lights up your own brain, check out "inside of a dog: what dogs see, smell, and know" by alexandra horowitz.

have a non-fiction book recommendation about dogs? share it in the comments!

i look forward to hearing about your dog communication progress!