Doggy Time-out: How to Discipline Your Pooch

Discipline Your Dog | Living with a dog can be a lot of fun, but it is important to train them properly and correct wrong behavior.

How to discipline a dog that won’t listen is something especially challenging! There are different methods you can use to discipline your dog. How to discipline your dog the right way depends on your relationship with your dog and how responsive your pooch is to you. There are two main strategies that pet owners use to train dogs: the Positive Re-enforcement Method and the Negative Punishment Method.

The positive re-enforcement method relies on praise and treats to shape a dog’s behavior. Consistently praising your dog and occasionally treating it teaches the canine acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

The Negative punishment method relies on using force such as hitting your dog to rectify wrong behavior. This can not only hurt your dog but also cause behavioral issues in the future.

The Positive Re-enforcement Method

The positive reinforcement training method uses rewards (praise, toys, treats) to shape a dog’s behavior.

Experts have found this reward-based method of discipline very beneficial for dogs. It not only molds a disciplined dog but also improves your relationship with the dog over the course of time.

Some points to keep in mind when using this technique are:

Timing is key. It is imperative to reward the dog exactly when the desired behavior occurs, or your dog might not be able to relate to the praise. For example, if you want to reward your dog for sitting, but your dog has already stood up, he might not know the praise was for sitting.

When training your dog, keep the commands short and simple. Start by teaching your dog how to “Sit “and go “Down” by focusing on your body language. Dogs are more likely to respond to body language much faster than words. Hold the dog treat in your hand and lure your hand over the dog’s head. Your dog will naturally have to sit down to view your hand. Similarly, you can also lure the reward lower between the dog’s paws to make it lie down further. When your dog starts performing this behavior consistently, you can add verbal cues like “Sit” and “Down.”

It is also important that all family members consistently stick to the same commands when training the dog. Make sure always to reward all desired behavior and never reward undesired behavior consistently.

Negative Punishment and why it should be avoided

Punishing your dog falls under the aversive obedience category and include discipline practices that can cause pain to your pet. These practices can be ineffective, not to mention cruel and hard.

You can train your dog through positive obedience methods, which are much more effective, and you don’t need to resort to using force.

Positive training methods include time out, stopping bad behavior using your voice {contrary to hitting} taking away a dog’s favorite toy and not giving your dog attention if they are misbehaving.

Hitting or using force can not only ruin your relationship with your dog but can also cause several behavior issues. These issues may include feeling fearful and insecure with you, aggression towards you or develop an instinct to hide or run away from you.

How can you use reward base discipline with your dog?

You need to let your dog know that you are in control when doing activities together, like going on a walk. If your dog tries to run away or tries to bite you, you can punish it by withholding the reward.

Start training your dog as early as possible, since the puppy stage. Here are several tips on how you can start training your puppy.

If your puppy is doing something wrong, distract your dog by making a loud noise. You can yell loudly, or slap on the table, just to startle the dog, so he focuses his attention on you.

If you catch your dog doing something it should not, or if you are figuring out how to discipline a dog that won’t listen, you can try the scruff shake. You can do this by grabbing the skin under his ear or on his neck and give it a light shake. So, the next time you catch your new puppy trying to lick the plate, you know what to do!

Another strategy to show your puppy you are the dominant one is through the Put-Down. Pushing the puppy on his back gently and leaning over him shows him that you are the one in charge.

The Isolation and Time-Out strategy also works when disciplining your pooch. If caught doing wrong, give the ‘No’ command and ignore your puppy. Puppy’s love attention and are sociable by nature and are bound to notice your lack of attention.

Like a Time-Out, you can also place your puppy outside for a while and stop playing and interacting with it so it knows it has done something wrong.

You can also distract your dog with the ‘sit command.’ After saying ‘No,’ command your dog to sit so the dog has something to do and will most likely forget or will not be able to keep doing the naughty act it was doing earlier.

If your puppy is up to something mischievous, you can squirt it with a squirt bottle while giving the command ‘No’ or ‘Off.’ Sometimes this does not work as puppies might find playing with water fun. Add a small amount of vinegar to the water (one part vinegar to six parts of water) to make this more effective.

The most effective strategy on how to discipline your dog is through positive reinforcements and praise. This is a tried and tested method that can not only improve your dog’s behavior but also strengthen your bond with your best friend. Regardless of your canine breed, the right training can shape any dog into a well-disciplined and obedient one.


by Bobby J Davidson || You can’t buy love, but you can rescue it™

Facts About Animal Homelessness:

  1. Only 1 out of every 10 dogs born will find a permanent home.
  2. The main reasons animals are in shelters: owners give them up, or animal control finds them on the street.
  3. Each year, approximately 2.7 million dogs and cats are killed every year because shelters are too full and there aren’t enough adoptive homes. Act as a publicist for your local shelter so pets can find homes. Sign up for Shelter Pet PR.
  4. Approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats.
  5. According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (NCPPSP), less than 2% of cats and only 15 to 20% of dogs are returned to their owners.
  6. 25% of dogs that enter local shelters are purebred.
  7. About twice as many animals enter shelters as strays compared to the number that are relinquished by their owners.
  8. It’s impossible to determine how many stray dogs and cats live in the United States. Estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million.
  9. Only 10% of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered. Overpopulation, due to owners letting their pets accidentally or intentionally reproduce, sees millions of these “excess” animals killed annually.
  10. Many strays are lost pets that were not kept properly indoors or provided with identification.
  11. According to The Humane Society, there are about 3,500 brick-and-mortar animal shelters in the US and 10,000 rescue groups and animal sanctuaries in North America.

Here are a some adoptions for consideration:  puccicafe.com/adoptions