Congratulations on the new addition to your family! While you are likely to be filled with excitement, it is also important for you to embrace the fact that there will to be times when you may become very frustrated with this new dog. Once you accept this fact it is even more important to recognize that your dog can fill your life with unconditional love, respect, trust and happiness. These things will not come without your hard work, patience, structure, affection and dedication to fulfilling his or her life.
For your dog to succeed you must begin with some basic assumptions that will help to establish a balanced and trusting relationship:
• Your new dog does not respect you, your family, your friends or your home. Your dog will need clear communication and guidance from you about the rules of the house. It is helpful for the dog if you reward the desired behavior and disagree with the undesired behaviors. Clearly communicating your rules and guidelines will give your dog the leadership it needs. This is how you will build the trust and respect for you, your family, your friends and your home!
• Your dog may not know how to act socially with other dogs, animals or even humans. Introducing your new dog to your existing dog(s) should be done on neutral territory and involve a nice long walk. Keeping your new dog on its leash and tied to your waist is a good practice until your dog demonstrates the behavior you desire. The leash is an important tool and should be used when introducing your new dog to other animals, children or adults. Establishing clear boundaries with people is equally important in this process. Provide new people with your expectations and rules that you have set with your dog. Allow them to provide affection and attention once the dog is calm and relaxed. For maximum success you should take your dog for a long structured walk before the introduction.
• Once you establish the guidelines for your dog you must remain consistent. A lack of consistency and follow-through is likely to cause confusion for your dog, which can lead to unbalanced behaviors. You (and all members of the home) will never check out from clearly communicating your rules and guidelines. Example: If you do not want the dog on the couch he is never allowed on the couch unless you provide an invitation. The dog should never make that decision.
• Dogs are not human! Your dog needs a stable and balanced owner. Placing human feelings onto your dog can compromise your judgment and your guidance, which can lead to an unbalanced dog (and owner and home). Love is always encouraged and can be used as a motivator for both you and your dog, but should not become like blinders to unhealthy behavior. If your dog is showing unbalanced behaviors you cannot “reason” or “love” those behaviors out of your dog.
•There is not one type of training technique or tool that is best. Keeping an open mind to variety in training is crucial in this process. Closing your mind to alternative training techniques may limit the degree of your dog’s success. Balance is the ultimate goal and we will use every possibility, tool or resource we have at our disposal to save this dog’s life. We expect you to do the same.
• You will not balance your dog in a day but you must strive to balance your dog every day. If you make small improvements every day then you are doing a wonderful job! No matter what curve balls are thrown or what roadblocks you hit never waiver from the task at hand. If you ever feel overwhelmed, help is always available!
The staff at A Balanced Dog are available to coach you on ways to modify those unwanted behaviors.
