by Cindi Clarke

Created on: May 21, 2009

Have you ever traveled to a foreign country and desperately needed to find something to eat? Or perhaps find a bathroom to use? Maybe you were even on an extended stay and were bored out of your mind with staying in your hotel room and looking at the walls, not understanding what was on television or the radio. You wanted to get out and do something, anything, but you didn't speak the language and so it was difficult to communicate with anyone and let your needs be known.

When you finally did find someone who was willing to try to communicate with you, was it easier to understand each other when the efforts were accompanied with smiles or laughter, rather than a frowning, angry face? Were you more willing to approach someone who appeared friendly, rather than approaching someone who appeared threatening?

This is how our pets feel on a daily basis when we are trying to train them. They want nothing more than to please us, but just do not understand our language.

If you have ever watched wolves, hyenas or wild dogs in a pack with young pups, you will see them teaching the pups the rules of the pack by using games and play. A dog in the wild that is fearful will be a dog that does not survive. He will not have the respect of the pack, and therefore the support of the pack. When a dog learns and earns respect from the other members of the pack, especially as an alpha in the pack, then the pack is strong and will be able to hunt, play, and grow together in a healthy way.

When training a young puppy in our homes, we need to follow the same methods and teach with games and play, as well as positive rewards, in order to earn the respect of the dog as it grows. Become your dog's cheerleader so that it understands what acceptable behavior is. Reward good things that your dog or puppy does, but within reason, do not acknowledge bad behavior. Certain behaviors, such as biting, running across a street, or acts of aggression will need to be dealt with quickly in order to make sure the dog understands that those are unacceptable, but you can express it without physically punishing the dog. Often just putting on the exorcist by using a loud, scary voice and an angry, disapproving face will make your feelings known in a manner that dogs will understand. If you've watched a puppy cross the line of playful behavior with an adult dog, you will see that the adult dog will growl, snap, or bark at the puppy without hurting it, but at the same time expressing

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