Dogs and humans communicate very differently. Humans obviously speak out loud– but dogs cannot communicate verbally. This difference can make it challenging to communicate with our dogs.
So how do we communicate with our dog? Dogs communicate primarily via physical touch and physical pressure. We can see this in the way that they stand over each other, nip when they don’t want to play anymore, avoid direct eye contact, sniff each other’s butts, lick one another’s faces, and “bow” when they want other dogs to play.
We can use the leash as our primary form of communication with our dog and to control behaviors (good or bad). This is the more underrated tool because everyone uses a leash to control or contain their dog– but many aren’t using it efficiently or effectively.
Leash pressure from a slip leash or combined with a prong collar can be a very gentle and effective way to teach them how the leash should work and also to correct behaviors we do not want them to do. When we have our dogs on the leash, the leash should be loose most of the time (they shouldn’t be dragging us around). But how do we teach this? Through training practice, we can teach them to follow us and pay attention to what we are doing.
When teaching new behaviors we can use treats and toys to lure them into positions and reward when the correct position is achieved. Treats, toys, and praise are highly motivating and rewarding for most dogs. This is one of the easiest ways to teach and reinforce new behaviors. We frequently have clients ask if treats must be used forever in training our dogs– and our answer is that it depends greatly upon the dog, but keep in mind that you do not like to work for free, do you? We do not ask our dogs to work for free– and can reward them whether that be in treats (or by hand-feeding dinner with training if they’re highly food driven), play, praise, or even sniffy/ exploring time.
We can also use spatial pressure to stop behaviors we do not want or correct when they break commands. A great example of this is walking toward them when they come into the kitchen and have been told not to– using the physical pressure of us moving closer to drive them out of the kitchen. Another example is when we tell them to lay down– if they then get up before they are supposed to, we can walk towards them to indicate that they need to go back into a “down” position (and use the leash to guide/ correct them if needed).
After the commands are taught through treats and leash pressure, the e-collar can be used to communicate off-leash (think of it as a “Bluetooth leash”). We like to pair very low stimulation (this is a sensation similar to that of a “tens-unit” used for massage) with known commands when teaching the e-collar (we will be going over this more in-depth in the future!).
Keep in mind that all of these things must be taught, which takes time and understanding between dog and owner. Dogs will not automatically understand luring, playing with their owner, leash pressure/ prong, or the e-collar. If you need help in understanding and teaching these concepts to your dog don’t hesitate to hire a qualified trainer! Trainers can help you understand key concepts in canine communication which will give a solid foundation to work from.