How to Earn Your Dog’s Trust
Does Your Dog Trust You?
Picture for a minute that your dog chases another dog across the road. You run after him, yelling for him to stop and come back, but he’s long gone.
By the time he finally returns, you are seriously mad and start shouting at him for chasing the other dog and giving you a cardiac moment. But stop a minute and think about this. Here’s how your dog sees this situation. First, he sees another dog, chases the dog, has a great time, which is a lot of fun. Then he comes back to you and gets yelled at…HUH?. Oh, yeah…did you smack him to make sure he gets it?
What you really want to teach your dog here was not to chase, period. What you actually taught him and what he learned was that coming to you can be unpleasant. Just like a small child, your dog associates your feelings and reactions only with what he did last. He doesn’t know that chasing is wrong, it’s what most dogs do instinctively.
So how do you get your dog to stop chasing other dogs? Well first, you must control your own behavior. If for each time that you’ve called him you then yell and punish, you’re sending the message that you’re mean and can’t be trusted. If your dog knows that you’ll yell, why should he come, why should you be trusted?
One of the commands you’ll need to teach your dog is to come when called. To successfully enforce this command, remember this principle: Whenever your dog comes to you, be positive and nice. Each time he obeys, reward the dog for coming to you by greeting him with a soft tone, a pat on the head or just s good scratch around the ears. Learn to be patient and in short time, your dog will learn to trust you. Once the trust is established, he’ll work harder to earn the hugs and affection.
It takes time to unlearn the undesired behavior, but no matter what, be pleasant and greet him with a kind word, a pat on the head and a smile. Teach your dog to trust you by making him feel safe and happy with you.
