Monday, December 7, 2009

Speak Softly

Do you ever find yourself practically shouting a command at your dog? The dog comes bounding around and you think he's not going to hear you so you raise your voice. Shouting makes you tense and even aggressive causing your dog to act negatively. He may cower, not respond, bark or walk away. If you have something unpleasant don't you want to get away.

Most dogs have no problem hearing and are quite acute to sounds. Speak softly, even whisper, you would be amazed how readily a dog will respond to you when your calm and gently spoken. If your calm and quiet your body won't be as tense, making you a more pleasant being to be around.

Next time speak softly, but forget the big stick.

1 comment:

  1. I truly believe in what you've said about every dog owner being a trainer... I think that goes pretty much for any animal! You are either training them to "better" the communication between the two of you, or you are training them to do inappropriate behaviors that will cause problems for the both of you.

    I've worked with animals (dogs, horses, goats, etc.) for many years, so I've learned (in general) NOT to get loud... at least not for any length of time. If you've got 7 loudly barking dogs, you might have to get their attention, but then you need to go back down to a decent tone as you conintue whatever communication you are working on.

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