Building a bond with your dog is fundamental to creating a lasting relationship based on trust and collaboration.
TIME.
One of the most important ways to build your canine-human relationship is time. Like any relationship in our lives, the more effort you put in, the more rewarding it becomes. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Spending quality time together can be as simple as playing a game that your dog loves, going for a long walk together, or even just snuggling on the sofa. Add some variety, and change it up daily.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
REWARD.
I don’t believe that our dog needs to work for every morsel of food, love or affection. I think our dogs deserve to be rewarded for most of the things they do. Don’t be stingy withholding affection or rewards (especially when they have done a great job at something). Give them their fav toy, or a great treat. After all, you bought it for them right? What are you saving it for?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
TRAIN.
When I recommend that people train their dogs, most clients automatically jump to high obedience training and the time/effort it takes to get to competition level. But that’s not what I mean at all. Of course if that’s your end goal, go for it. But when I refer to training your dog, I mean the simple things. Spend some time working on a new trick together. Teach them the “sit” or “settle” that you have always wanted to work on. Spend⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
that time together learning something new and building that bond. Work it out together. Use your combined human and canine mental skills to work in unison.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
COMMUNICATE.
Understanding how your dog communicates with you and others is vitally important to understanding what’s going on in their world. Learn how to read them and spend some time on canine body language.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Like any exchange in our lives, nurturing the relationship we have with our dog is fundamental to building a great bond.