What do you mean
by "Bonding With Your Dog"?
 Bonding
with your dog means becoming best friends!
If
you expect your dog to be a loving, obedient companion, creating a
solid bond with it is the single most important thing you will ever
do.
A
strong bond is the key to enjoying the company of your dog, and your
dog wanting to be with you. It is also a must if you plan to get
anywhere with your training plans. After all, if the dog likes you,
it will want to do the things you ask of it.
As
it is with humans, bonding is the way you create and maintain an
open line of communication between you and your dog. The more
effectively you communicate with your dog, the faster you will both
learn to please each other and the stronger your bonds will
become.
Dogs
study us closely and pick up little signals from us all of the time.
They read our body language, facial expressions, tone of voice and physical
movements. They also read our emotions, feelings and our energy.
Bonding allows a human to communicate with a dog without even using
words. Like your dog we can use our body posturing, movements,
facial expressions, and even eye movements with great success.
Test
your bond sometime. Try to go through a full day without using words
to talk to your dog. If you can't do it, your bond is not strong
enough yet!
It
is important that the communication goes both ways! You need to
spend as much time as you can learning to understand your dog’s
language. If you don’t learn your dog’s language, it will make
your relationship much more difficult and you will not understand
what or why your dog is doing some of the things it does. This is
one of the biggest reasons that dogs are taken to, or return to, a
shelter or a rescue organization.
 Listen
to your dog. You don't always have to initiate
the "conversation" or ask the dog to do something for you.
Allow your dog tell you what it wants to do, then go do it. Contrary
to some “old fashion” dog trainers, this does NOT make you a
weak leader. It makes you a respected one!
Your
dog initiates conversations with you all the time. Don't ignore it
or stifle it, learn to recognize it and respond to it. Allow your
dog to start some activities. Most often a dog will do this with
it’s body language. Example: My dogs will bring me a toy and ask
me to play by putting it in my lap or dropping it on the floor in
front of me. They also ask to go outside, go for walks or sometimes
they lay in front of me to get me to come down on the floor to
wrestle, play or cuddle. They also (when I get busy) “remind” me
that it’s their supper time.
Acknowledging
your dog's communications will demonstrate to your dog that you
understand what it's "saying" to you. When you do this,
your dog will not only talk to you, it well listen to you more
closely. You will be sharing a common language.
Click
this link to learn step-by-step how
to bond with your new dog.
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