Despite the love we have for our dogs, we sometimes do things that annoy the hound out of them. It might be unintentional, but these things can nevertheless be annoying or even harmful. Just as many dogs don’t grasp that certain canine behaviors might annoy us, we too make blunders that can worry, upset, or even anger our dogs. The following annoying human habits are common breaches of canine common practice.
Your dog interprets yelling as angry barking, which to her, means trouble. It works poorly to shut down bad behavior as a training technique and only scares, confuses, or agitates them. Instead of yelling, it’s better to stay calm and use your tone of voice. A deeper tone to your voice means, “Hey, this needs your attention,” while a softer tone means “Good job!” By adjusting our vocal tone instead of volume, we’ll get our dog’s attention without scaring her.
Children are usually guilty of teasing dogs, by barking back at them behind a fence, pulling on their tails or ears, or even chasing after an unwilling dog is undoubtedly upsetting and can make dogs timid, uneasy or even aggressive. Moving a dog’s dish while he eats or playing keep-away without ever letting the dog have the toy, so lay off the teasing and be sure to reward your dog quickly after he performs a behavior correctly.
Staring often translates to a challenge to dogs, so the last thing you should do is stare for too long at a dog. Though you should have no problem with your own dog, it might be interpreted as threatening with new dogs. So never stare into the eyes of a dog who seems edgy, worried or aggressive!
Stick to the script. Dogs depend on the routine. Feeding and walking schedules, playtime—your dog relies on these and they come to expect them to happen without much deviation. If you casually change their dinner time or take them out later than usual, it can stress them and even cause them to change their behavior. Try to stick to the same schedule as best as you can. On your days at home, try not to sleep in too late.
You often encourage your Golden Retriever to jump up on you when you get home from work, but when you have visitors, you chastise your dog for doing this same thing. This inconsistency only confuses your dog, who can’t figure out what you want them to do. To avoid this, decide precisely what you prefer your dog to do, then stick to it like masking tape to a wall.