Categories
Tips & Tricks

How do I become my dog’s best friend?

The dog is the best friend of humans. But how can you also be your dog’s best friend? Even if we look at dogs and humans purely objectively, we quickly notice that we are very different. But not only externally there are differences, especially in communication, dog and human speak different languages. How you can still become your dog’s best friend, we show you in this blog post.

Express yourself consistently and clearly.

Dogs understand nonverbal (body language) cues better than verbal (spoken language) ones. This is also why a dog doesn’t understand what we mean by “sit” or “down” from the start. Dogs, however, have a sense of our body language from the start. Studies have shown that dogs, compared to all other canids, have the greatest interest in humans and like to give them their attention. They want to learn to understand us! And this is exactly what we should use when living with our dog.

Pointing gestures are particularly well understood by our dogs. This is probably because dogs have learned that hands are a reliable source of positive things e.g. food, reaching for the leash announcing the walk, playing together, or the like. Puppies can respond to our pointing gestures from a very young age and even interpret them correctly most of the time. Therefore, you should be especially careful when using your hands with your puppy. Show your puppy exciting and great things that are worth following your hand for. This will be of great use to you later in training!

It is important that you consciously use pointing gestures when interacting with your dog and do not “waste” them by carelessly pointing at something that does not interest or even harm your dog. Any bad experience your dog has with your hands can contribute to your dog becoming hand shy.

Meet your dog with kindness.

We, humans, are usually taller than our dogs because of our upright gait. Dogs know full well that height and weight can determine who is the stronger and so they also assess threats. If we approach our dog by being upright and leaning forward at the same time, we present quite a threatening figure. Also, sticking out our hands from above is not a very friendly gesture to our dog. Your hand is the first human body part to fall below the individual distance (that is, the distance your dog perceives as comfortable). Some dogs resist such a gesture, threaten or even bite you. Therefore, it is important that this especially the first contact between you and your dog is on one level. Make yourself small by crouching down, slowly offer your hand to your dog and let him take the last step towards you. This is exactly what expresses respect and is considered very polite by our dogs.

Excursus Recall: We also tend to lean forward when recalling. However, it is better if we lean back slightly and even take a few steps back when we call our dog to us. This looks inviting to our dog and he feels less threatened by our height.

Stay Fair!

Dogs don’t understand exceptions! Today “yes” and tomorrow “no” your dog will not understand. Once your dog has learned what he is allowed to do and what he is not allowed to do, it is important to keep this way of education. Otherwise, you will become untrustworthy to your dog and jeopardize your relationship with each other. Some dogs even react physically to the constantly changing opinion of their human with the learned helplessness. So if your dog experiences constant failure, this failure leads to a build-up of stress hormones and can affect his ability to learn and concentrate. Therefore, consider early enough whether your dog should be allowed to cuddle with you on the sofa or whether he should lie in his basket. By the way, we are real sofa fans ☺️.

Become your dog’s best friend now!

We hope these tips help you out! For more tips and tricks, download the Pupy app now and learn exciting exercises with your dog today!

Categories
Training

How does my dog stay relaxed alone?

It is a piece of freedom to leave his dog alone at home for a few hours. Even if we would like to spend a lot of time together with our furry friend, it sometimes happens that our darling has to stay alone for a short time. Whether it is for the weekly shopping, a hobby that we pursue, where our dog can not come along or a doctor’s appointment. For such situations, your dog must learn that it is not bad to stay home alone and gain the confidence that we will always come back as his social partner.

How you manage to get your dog used to staying alone step by step you will learn in the following tips:

1. create an atmosphere for your dog in which he feels comfortable.

Set up a place for your dog where he feels comfortable and cared for. Before you even start to teach your dog step by step to stay alone, it is important that your dog feels at home. Set up a basket or a dog box, where he can also come to rest in everyday life. Make this place attractive to him by hiding great treats there or giving him a chew bone as soon as he visits this place. It is important that your dog’s resting place is in a place where he is undisturbed but still gets some of the edge of the action.

2. practice leaving your dog alone step by step.

Begin to teach your dog to stay alone as early as possible and as slowly as necessary. It is perfectly fine if you leave the room for 1-2 minutes while your dog is busy with a chewing stick in his basket. Short walks to the basement or to take out the garbage are also wonderful for the first training sessions. It is important that you do not sneak out. Your dog must be aware that you are leaving the room, because this is the only way he will trust you not to leave suddenly. You can announce your going out with a “I’ll be right back.” When your dog gets comfortable with you being gone for a short time without him, slowly start to increase the time.

Only come back when your dog is calm.

We recommend that you install a camera so that you can monitor whether your dog is calm or not. Alternatively, you can use a baby phone. It is quite normal if your dog runs around the apartment for a short time or protests with short barks and yelps. Your task is to wait for the moment when your dog is calm. Then go back to him, greet him with a “hello” and short calm petting. By getting on eye level with your dog, you prevent him from jumping on you. Sometimes it is also helpful to give him something to carry or chew on to avoid a boisterous and tumultuous greeting.

4. Don’t leave your dog alone until he has learned.

“Just a quick shopping trip, will be fine” – NO! Don’t leave your dog alone until your dog has really learned. If you leave your dog alone when he can not yet safely stay alone for a certain time, it can happen that your dog suddenly panics. By not being able to intervene in time, your dog will associate negative emotions with being left alone and, in the worst case, you will be completely back to the beginning of training. It is better if you organize a dog sitter or other caregiver who can watch your dog until your dog can safely and relaxed stay alone for more than 1 hour. Before that, you should not leave him alone, even if the supermarket is not far away, something can always come up and you stay away longer than planned after all.

5. Cover your dog’s basic needs before leaving him alone.

Make your dog physically and mentally happy before leaving him alone. Take him for another short walk, train or play with him for a few minutes. Also, make sure your dog has eaten and has access to plenty of fresh water while you’re away. For more ideas on how to keep your dog physically and mentally occupied, check out our app.

Get started now!

We wish you all the best in training your dog! In our app, you’ll find everything you need for successful training in the “Stay Alone” category. If you need additional help with Stay Alone training or have any other concerns with your dog, you can always ask your questions through our Trainer Chat. Our professional dog trainers will be happy to help you and together we will find a solution.