How to Discipline Your Dog Without Punishment?

Punishment- one thing every single person hates. Then how can you expect that your pet will like it? Scolding your dog is never fun, neither for you nor for your dog. It leads to lack of trust and hurts feelings. A little bad behavior can be absolute worst for your emotional support dog. Imagine how you would have felt if online shaming was done to you in times of coronavirus.

If you yourself don’t want to be put up with unwanted behavior, then why to scare your dog by doing so?

Ever seen a dog trainer punishing his animals? Of Course not, right! We do have a perception that in some situations there is no other way. And this is a necessary part while raising a dog. However, punishment and scolding are not the only ways of raising a pup. Rather it can be done in a more effective way or precisely saying, with positive reinforcement.

This comprises rewarding or treating your dog on doing the right thing and circumventing punishment on doing a wrong thing. Since you are going to build a lifelong emotional connection with your dog, so fear can’t be a go-getter for your dog. Your dog would rather like your love and affection instead of being misbehaved.

Let’s look into the ways of disciplining your dog without any punishment.

Acknowledging And Rewarding The Positives

Who doesn’t want to be recognized or praised for doing any right thing. It is exactly the same for animals. Your dog only wants your praise and you are the only center of his small world. Treat your dog, whenever you see him behaving positively. Even if he is heeling nicely on a walk, you should not say anything to him. You might scold him for tugging his leash and assume that he knows, he is doing a good job the other times. And you should promote that good behavior by doing these things-

Give Them a Treat

Doing this, is a good reinforcement and is a part of raising your dog. But don’t treat your dog so much that he ultimately gets a stomach ache. Rather break his favourite treat into small parts and give it to him from time to time. 

Give Them Physical Tenderness 

A good dab or a scratch behind the ears always goes a long way.

Praise Them Verbally

Just by saying good dog! enthusiastically, will make your dog wag his tail. 

Correct Them And Then Redirect Them

If your dog is clearly doing the exact opposite of what you are telling him to do, especially while you are training him, you just can’t let him do so. After all, it’s all about disciplining your dog, that too in a positive way.

If your dog is doing a thing that he shouldn’t, then grab his attention in order to distract him from what he is doing. You can do this either by clapping loudly or by making a high-pitched sound to catch him inattentively, so that he stops whatever he is doing.

And once he stops doing that, redirect him in the way you want that particular thing to be done. This particular methodology can be applied on any activity or behavior that you want your dog to engage into. These include-

Doing Potty Inside

A very common behavior that almost every dog has. If you find your dog doing this act, there is no need of scolding them or scaring them with a punishment. Doing so, can lead to more accidents and this we would never want. Rather interrupt him and take him outside that very moment. And next time if he himself goes outside, reward him to make him feel that he has done a good job. 

Chewing Anything But Not His Toys

Although dogs love their toys, they probably love your slippers more. Let’s face that! It is so because they have your smell in it. So if you see your dog chomping your favorite slippers, distract them by removing the slippers from their mouth. And redirect them by giving them their toy to play with. 

Withhold all The Treats

It can be heartbreaking if you are expecting a treat and you don’t get it. There are certain things that dogs love more than treats and upon that getting it from their most loved person. And he will only value it if you give that treat on his positive behavior and withhold it till the time he does that behavior. This also applies while you show your affection towards him. Never praise him if he is misbehaving with you, regardless of how adorable he is to you. Rather ignore him while he is doing this and remain in that way till the time he calms down.