Dog Education

Until now, our quest for dog education has been made of some general notions about the awakening, learning and psychological development, valid to all puppies in all environment. Though all the individuals are different and all the breeds have their own characteristics. On the other hand we have to keep in mind the puppy's character in his evolution and education. In the previous Section we have exposed the different stages of development. The puppy gets home (when it just woke up); now we will have to educate it. In this Section we will explain thoroughly the base of the puppy's education.  The key to education lies on the notions of the dominator and the dominated. All wild animals that live in groups establish hierarchical relationships that assure the group's survival and organization. The family that the dog lives with is considered a group, even though it is not wild, it must find the place it belongs to. This place is always the one of the dominated. This does not mean that u have to be totally submitted to the animal: it just means that the dog has to consider the members of its family as superiors that will always have the last word. Respect and hierarchical order is what allows us to establish balanced relationships with our dogs. For the most part, behavioral changes and problems are a result of the lack of clarity and stability in the owner – dog relationship. It is precise to have in mind that education begins the same day that you get the puppy.

Brief Commands: When you command your dog you must say "come" instead of "it is time to go because it is getting late and we have to get home soon". There are owners who are too hard on their dogs when they give them commands. Nevertheless, only one word can be pronounced with sweetness. In any circumstance, the dog does not understand long commands. We must always use the same command, the same word. If we have decided to say "sit", we cannot change and just say "sitting" because the dog will think that it is a different order that you are giving him and it won't understand. The dog understands the command because of the sound, more than the word itself, not caring about the language. Every member of the family will have to use the same words. On the other hand, the dog has a tendency to obey deeper voices. This would explain the fact that the male owners impose more than the females. A dry and authoritarian tone is just enough; we must also remember not to yell. Even when we reprimand the dog we must do it with calmly and firmly. We must speak slowly and clears, without using words that can cause confusion, like words that sound alike because the dog might not be able to tell the different between sounds. Rewarding and Punishment