The Dog's Voice

Hello World!!

Here at Citizen Canines one of the first things we tell new clients is," Dogs don't speak human language." Everyone chuckles because, of course, they don't. Dogs communicate all the time, asking for attention, for breakfast, and for playtime. Finding their voice is up to us as their caregiver and companion.

All dogs do is observe. They watch us for cues throughout their day, they know when we are getting ready to leave and show us their expectations. Ana, our Belgium Malinios; loves the ride to school every weekday, and excitedly visits the door whenever we walk past it. What does your dog do when you get ready for work?

With a little attention on our part, we can easily see when our dogs are communicating with us, even when we aren't particularly sure what they are saying. Here is an example of training communication that all dog parents rely on. What does it mean when your dog gets up and walks to the door to the back door? Your dog is most likely telling you they need to pee. If they come back to you and then return to the door they are probably expressing an urgency that needs your response.

So without any formal dog training, you and your dog have established communication. Making your life easier with your dog doesn't have to be difficult, consistency and observation will get you a long way.

Remembering that your dog communicates by doing things, and that is not so unlike people, makes understanding their voice easier and an easier life with our dogs is often our goal. Building a relationship with our dog becomes simpler with these two steps, watching what they are doing are responding consistently. Just like in the previous example, we consistently open the door when they go to it, because of the potty training you did with your dog, while we consistently give the same responses to our dogs we open a reliable line of communication. Don't let consistency be a bad word, it is the base of giving our dogs the love we want to give them and how we communicate better with them.

Lead with Kindness,

Amy and Paddy

#R+ #dog #dogtraining #canineenrichment