diciplining your dog

You shouldn't have to punish your dog often, but you need to be prepared to punish him if it's necessary. If you find yourself punishing every day, or even every week, you can assume you're doing something very wrong.

Different dogs require vastly different levels of punishment. Some dogs are mortified if you just say "bad dog!" and in that case you don't need to go any further.

Most dogs require a slap or spank with an open hand, or maybe even a small stick. Remember, this should be very rare.

Some dogs won't respect you unless you do something that hurts. That's unusual, but if you have such a dog you need to get its respect. You may need to shake it, or hit it hard.

If you are going to punish the dog be sure there's no doubt in the dog's mind about what the punishment is for. If you come into a room and find that the dog has done something bad in your absence, too bad. Now is NOT the time to punish him. Catch him in the act first.

Punishment that doesn't seem to come from you, but comes directly out of the sky and rains down on him is often very effective. This shouldn't be a hit, but a sudden startling commotion.

For dogs that bark incessantly, or otherwise misbehave while nobody's around, rattlecans from the sky are a good solution. Rattlecans are empty, rinsed out soda cans with 5 or 6 pennies inside. When they land near an unsuspecting dog they are very startling.

I've been known to string a thread through the wall into the room the dog is in, with the end of the thread attached to a rattlecan on the top shelf. When the dog began barking a tug on the thread caused the can to fall off the shelf and crash into the wall. And I wasn't even around. I went into the room and put the can back on the shelf and left. If the dog started barking again the can fell again. The dog rarely started barking a third time, and it hadn't learned that I was the one punishing it.

When a male dog marks in the house a rain of rattlecans is usually enough to ensure it won't happen again. You don't have to say a word.

Any bad behaviour that can be rattlecanned will usually go away soon. Especially if it's never rewarded.

Sister sites:
Auntie Donna's Dog care and training tips

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