Teaching "No" to Your Dog | Don't Make These 7 Mistakes

In the previous chapter on corrections, you learned several ways to stop your dog from doing something you don't want him to do. If you can immediately STOP bad behavior, you can control your pup in virtually any circumstance that crops up. So you want to get this right!

Let's look at seven common mistakes owners make when teaching "No."

1. Repeatedly saying "No" without backing it up  with a corrective technique.
2. Asking  (instead of telling) your pup to stop what he's doing, or trying to "reason" with him.
3. Smiling or laughing when you say "No."
4. Petting or fondling your pup while saying "No."
5. Repeating the same corrective technique  even when it doesn't make your particular pup stop that behavior.
6. Calling  your pup to you, when you're planning to correct him.
7. Chasing  after him in order to to correct him.

Let's look at those mistakes one at a time.

1) Don't say "No" without backing it up.

When her TV show went to commercial, Kathy wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water. Through the window, she saw her dog Jake digging another hole in the tulip bed. She raised the window. "Jake, No! No!" Jake stopped digging and looked up. But Kathy was already hurrying back to the TV. Jake resumed his digging.

Here's what Jake learned from Kathy's "correction":

That when he does certain things that he enjoys, his owner's head sometimes appears and vague sounds float out of her mouth. Nothing else happens.

Jake logically concludes that the sound no  is an incidental background sound, no different from the incidental sounds of flying dirt he hears when he digs a hole.

The sound no  carries no consequences. He can ignore it, just as he ignores the sound of the flying dirt. Just another one of life's little mysteries!

One of the most common mistakes owners make is to tell their pup "No" and then allow him to continue the behavior. This simply confirms to him that no  is a meaningless sound.

If you're ever in a position where you can't MAKE your pup stop a behavior (say you're at the top of a ladder with a bucket of paint and your dog is barking), don't say "No" unless you're truly prepared to come down that ladder!

Be especially careful when you're occupied with something, such as talking on the phone. Some clever pups learn that if you're busy, you might yell, but you won't make them stop.

Remember, your dog is learning from you all the time. He can either learn good things or bad things from you. Your job is to make sure he only learns good things.

2) Don't ASK your dog to stop what he's doing or try to "reason" with him.

Kathy held up her chewed sandal and waved it angrily at her dog. "Jake, these sandals cost me 75 dollars and now you've ruined them. They were a perfect match for my turquoise outfit! It was wrong of you to do this, Jake. It was mean. You've made me very unhappy and you darned well better be sorry! Am I making myself clear, Jake? Do you understand me?"

Poor Jake. All he understands is that his owner is holding up a chew toy and spewing out a long monologue of harmless sounds. As she waves the sandal around, he stares longingly at it. He remembers where he got this tasty toy. He also remembers that there were lots more in the same place.

How  you correct your pup is important. Ranting, pleading, a barrage of words... those mean nothing to a dog. Just say "No" in a calm, confident, deep-ish voice and add a corrective technique.

3) Don't smile or laugh when you say "No".

Kathy's husband, Roger, couldn't help chuckling as he pulled their dog away from the spitting cat. "Hey, Jake, leave the cat alone, eh?" But he had to admit that it was amusing to see them bickering. Roger wasn't fond of the cat, anyway. As soon as he released Jake's collar, the dog charged after the cat again.

If you secretly think it's cute or funny when your pup does something you don't want him to repeat, you need to keep those thoughts off your face and out of your voice.

Otherwise, your pup will read your body language and conclude that your "No"isn't really serious.

When you interact with your dog, your tone of voice, facial expression, and body language are important. Work on your acting skills!

4) Don't add affection or petting to your corrections.

"Jake, how many times have I told you to stay off the sofa!" Kathy wrapped her arm around the dog and pushed him onto the floor. When he was off, she said "Good boy!" and tickled his head affectionately. As she headed for the kitchen, Jake jumped back onto the sofa.

A correction isn't much of a correction if it includes personal attention, touching, and praise. Make your corrections swift and impersonal, then turn your attention away from the pup. You want him to learn that only when he has been behaving well does he receive touching, petting, and praise.

5) Don't keep using a correction if it doesn't work for your dog.

It's tempting to choose a particular corrective technique – for example, a harmless spray of water – because you like it. But the question should always be: Does it work for your particular pup?

Roger was tired of Jake's incessant chewing. The sofa was pitted with holes like the craters on the moon. So he bought a plastic squirt gun, and when he caught Jake chewing, he ran toward the dog, squirting madly.

Well! That was fine and dandy with Jake! He leaped happily into the air, trying to catch the water with his tongue. The "game" ended when Roger, backpedaling frantically, tripped over the ottoman and fell on his backside.

Later he returned to the living room and found Jake curled inside one of the holes in the sofa... chewing on the plastic squirt gun.

This happens a lot. Owners will complain that they tried the spray of water or noisemaker or leash tug. And it didn't work.

• Now, sometimes there is something amiss with their timing.  They might not be quick enough to apply the corrective technique in close enough proximity  to the behavior. For your dog to understand the connection between the two, immediacy is important.
• Or there might be something amiss with their firmness.  They might be giving a big rowdy Labrador a single squirt of water or a half-hearted tug of the leash that would have been better matched to a baby Chihuahua.
• Or sometimes consistency  is the problem. If you correct a behavior one day but allow it the next day, your dog will never understand.

But sometimes a correction doesn't work simply because you've chosen the wrong correction for your particular pup.

Your dog will show you, by his body language, and especially by the results,  whether a particular correction works for him. His tail should droop a bit or his ears flatten. His facial expression and body language should say, "Oops! Sorry about that!" Most importantly, he should stop the behavior immediately.

If he keeps right on doing what he's doing, or if he stops for a moment, then goes back to the misbehavior as soon as you turn your back, you have not yet made the correction outweigh the reward he's getting from the behavior.

Please read the above paragraph again. It's very important.

You're looking for the corrective technique – and the degree  of corrective technique – that outweighs  the fun the pup is getting from doing the behavior. That's going to be different for every pup and for every behavior.

Ultimately,then...

it is your DOG who decides which corrective technique you should use.

So don't keep blindly using a correction that doesn't work for your dog. Increase its firmness, or quicken your timing, or try a different kind of correction. A technique isn't "corrective" if it doesn't stop the problem.

6) Don't call your dog to you, if you're going to correct him.

If you call your pup and he comes to you, and then you scold him or do something he doesn't like (a bath, for example), he will associate the sound Come  with unpleasantness and be reluctant to respond positively to that sound.

You don't want your pup to think that obeying Come  might cause discomfort.

And don't try to trick him by coaxing, "Come here, Jake. Mommy's not going to hurt you. Come on, sweetheart."

Because if your pup follows his trusting nature and believes you and then discovers your deception, he will not only distrust the word Come  but also he might distrust YOU.

So whenever you need to correct your dog or do anything uncomfortable with him, don't call him. Go get him. Silently.

And if your pup runs away from you when you're going to get him?

7) Don't chase your dog.

When the garbage can crashed to the kitchen floor, strewing trash everywhere, Jake knew he was in trouble. Kathy was rushing toward him, hands outstretched. Jake feinted left and rushed right. The chase was on!

When they don't want to be caught, many pups will dart just out of your reach and lead you on merry chases around the house.

You should never play this game. Every second that your pup manages to elude you cheapens you in his eyes. He knows that followers shouldn't be able to defeat leaders.

Instead, track him down silently. Don't run. Walk firmly and purposefully. Don't say a word. Most dogs are baffled and unnerved by such persistent, methodical following. In fact, many dogs eventually shrink down and "give up."

Let's assume your pup has given up and/or you have cornered him so you can be sure of getting hold of his collar without any risk of lunging at him and missing. What should you do next?

Put a leash on him and let him drag it around (but only while supervised!) Some owners buy a cheap cotton leash and cut the handle off so it can't catch on things. If your particular pup isn't that difficult to corner and get hold of, you might even cut the whole leash short so it hangs down from his collar to just above the floor. This offers a decent handhold if you need to quickly get hold of the dog.

As you progress through my training program and establish the correct leader-follower relationship, your pup won't run away from you any more.