Some Common Mistakes Made By Dog Owners

Some owners are over sentimental. Love is one thing; sentimentality is another. Some dogs yelp when corrected when not in any way hurt. Dogs like firm commands and loving praise when they do right. Owners use unkind thin-linked choke chains and jerk them upward instead of downward to correct a dog, and forget to take the left hand off the lead immediately after the jerk to allow the choke chain to release itself. They also jerk the lead with the palm of the hand facing upward instead of downward; this closes the choke chain on the dog's neck, and this may spoil the hair and is not kind. Choke chains should never close on the neck. Owners forget to say, "What a good dog" when praising. The word "what" has a magical effect on the dog and usually produces an instant happy rapport and obedience.

Owners' signals are ineffective or muddling; they give them bending forward, so that the signal could be missed by the dog. Signals should be given firmly from the shoulder when standing upright. The hand giving the signal should be held away from the body so the dog can see the signal clearly.

Owners fail to realize that if they use firm, confident, kind jerks and a happy tone of voice, most dogs can be cured of nerves in a few hours. Never sympathize with a nervous dog; jerk on it gaily, speaking to it in a happy voice, using a thick-linked choke chain held loosely over the two middle fingers of the right hand. Never close the right hand on the lead. A tight lead makes a dog nervous and dependent on its owner's support.

Owners may still believe that a female's bad temperament is improved by her having puppies; this is not so...she just passes the bad temperament on to her puppies. They may also believe that to mate an oversexed dog makes it better; this is also fallacy...it makes its behavior much worse, and it may even become bad tempered with other dogs into the bargain.

Owners often don't realize that male and female human beings each have a different scent to a dog's nose so that one often hears that dogs won't let men handle them. This may easily be true, as dogs know men from women by different scent. A normal dog either likes or dislikes both men and women, not one sex.

Dog owners often think that dog experts can solve their problems over the phone where temperament faults exist in the dog. This is rarely so; the owner has to be met and summed up. They also hope if they send their dog away to be trained it will return and obey them. This is not necessarily true, for it is the owner who needs the training much more than the dog. Many dogs have returned not obeying the owner. Some may have become nervous and may have lost faith in the owner.