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Training -and- Disciplining Your Dog
 
These two topics are mentioned together for a reason:
Discipline is getting your dog to behave in a satisfactory manner around you, particularly in the home. Training is actually the same thing but with a bit more flare, often to impress other people and takes more time and repetition. (The truth is that YOU probably need more training than the dog. I'll explain further down below.)
When you discipline your dog you need to take three things into consideration:
1. your dog’s age
2. your dog’s background – Is he a rescue or did you get him as a puppy?
3. your dog’s natural disposition – Is he naturally happy and outgoing or shy and reserved?
If you are starting out with a puppy, you obviously have your work cut out for you. Your puppy will have to mature to outgrow much of his mischieviousness and you should allow for this period of play and experimentation, taking care so no property is damaged and so that the puppy is not harmed in any way with his fearlessness and ignorance of the dangers around him. This is one advantage in getting a more mature dog from a rescue. You often avoid all those “accidents” in the house and chewing of clothes and furniture.
If your dog is a rescue and was mistreated, abused physically, he will likely be very shy for a long time. But you can bring out his personality with time and a lot of love and affection. Dogs respond to and know when they are truly appreciated and loved. (Take a look at Bela on the Weim Photos page.) An abused dog will really know that things are different in a new home and relish the comfort of knowing that the bad past is over. (They can tell.) The cowering, when you raise your voice or move quickly, will eventually taper off and you can end up with a very special and loving pet. If the dog was only abused by being alone and without proper nutrition, there will be less shyness or cowering. You’ll need to get the dog to relate to you as a human by frequent talking, petting and other efforts to get the dog to recognize you and look at you when you are communicating. The dog will usually start becoming “possessive” of his new environment and “own” and become somewhat defensive of it, having never had anything like that before. Fortunately, Weims are naturally prone to respond to humans well as they seem to look at us in the face and react to voice and motion more than many other breeds. A rescued Weim might be so devoted to a new, kind master that they might be protective of you from even your other pets for a while.
Your dog’s natural disposition will also indicate how “easy” you should be with discipline. “Easy” meaning not as strong verbally and definitely not physical. It is very hard to bring a dog out of its shell once “beat” into submission physically or ignored and left alone for days, weeks or months at a time. Some dogs can take some swats and move on. Others may pout for days. Know your dogs disposition.
The previous paragraphs dealt with a more psychological point of view. Now consider how you will discipline.
Every been accused of or punished for something you either didn’t do or didn’t know was wrong? Well, that is how a dog punished long after an infringement of the house rules feels. And this can be a very vulnerable moment. Some people will want to go into a rage over a potty incident in the house, maybe on the carpet, when, if the dog is not caught in the act, it will never get the connection if it wasn’t an "immediate" response. The only thing the dog will know is that you don’t like it and are very displeased with it, in general. Therefore, it is important to keep a close eye on any new pet and react quickly to make a connection between an act and a punishment or disapproval. Giving plenty of opportunities to avoid a behavior you don’t want it also necessary, especially early-on. So in the case of house-breaking, numerous trips outside are good as well as praise when returning from “doing his job” outside. As with any kind of training, dogs respond to repetition and habit. And there is the key, beyond discipline, to training….. repetition and praise, yes, even praise for doing "his business" outside intead of inside.
One more note about discipline. Just a little vocabulary goes a long way but it is necessary to actually speak to the dog for it to understand any vocabulary at all. It already has the disadvantage of not understanding English. Common instructions like “no” and “come” and “stay” are useful. But actually it is tone of voice that the dogs understands moreso than specific syllables. Your tone when angry or displeased definitely varies from when you are pleased and praising. Nevertheless, it is necessary for you to speak and not expect the dog to understand your "feelings" alone. Some people don't realize that they must speak and let the dog get used to their words and tones in order to understand.
Weimaraners are generally very responsive to human voices. After all, they are constantly “in your face” making eye contact more than most other breeds. With this advantage they will be more disposed to responding to your gestures and voice. After discipline most Weims are very resilient, bouncing right back with only a short time of pouting or shame. This is a good characteristic or quality. They can take correction and then move on.
There seems to be a connection with the amount of affection a dogs gets and how well it behaves, too. A dog that knows that is it loved will not want to displease its master, for after all, its master is its idol. But all dogs have to know WHO is the master. In the wild, dogs roamed in packs but they knew their hierarchy, who was boss. Once this was set, they knew their place. When a puppy, for instance, was being annoying to an older dog, the older dog would sometimes get on top of the smaller one and just hold it down. Even today, holding a misbehaving dog down for a moment lets it know that your are dominant. This is usually not a problem as we tend to overreact with discipline anyway. Its nice to see a dog who displays some independence as most are overly submissive. And a dog who knows that it is part of a family, its new “pack”, will tend to want to always be involved, watch over its “family” and spend time with the members.
If you see a dog, especially a Weimaraner, isolated, alone in a small yard with little human interaction, then there are more problems than obedience to deal with. You can expect destructive irrational behavior that can not be dealt with just by discipline. You will be looking at a dog in need of rescue.
One more comment so you will understand the previous paragraph. In the past, as little as several decades ago, people worked their farms or lived mostly in rural areas where their dogs spend the entire day with them, working, hunting, playing, travelling or just hanging around while at least one family member was at home all day. Today we have a dramatic change in our culture which has been hard on all domesticated canines who are now, more than ever, isolated, and left alone all day, with less physical activity and human interaction. Leaving a dog alone all day in a small cage in a dark apartment, unable to relieve itself, would've been unthinkable not long ago. WHY IS DISCIPLINE NECESSARY?
If you can’t discipline your dog effectively, why have one? Where is the joy of companionship with the dog if you are constantly struggling with obnoxious or destructive behavior? If you can’t walk your dog off-leash and expect it to stay with you, there is a risk of a lawsuit if someone is scared or hurt by being “surprised” by your dog and the dog itself may be killed right before your eyes by a car or another person mistaking it for a dangerous animal, striking or kicking it in the stomach. Have you ever wondered when you saw someone "walking" their dog, WHO of the two was "walking" WHO? Why is discipline necessary? Harmony, stability and the joy of an outing with “man’s best friend.” The dog, too, benefits by being confident, stable, comfortable and secure in its surroundings by conducting him/herself in a conforming, expected behavior and good habits in what dogs like, a routine, without surprises and anger outbursts on the part of their masters. The walk much more proudly when they know they are "carrying themselves" well.
Check the links page regarding a local Houston training school if you think you need professional help. Get control of your dog. You'll both be happier. Next thing you'll know, you'll be celebrating a new graduation like the two pooches in the photos above!!!
OK, so above I made a rash statement that YOU probably needed more training than your dog. I made this statement after much observation and from being a fan of The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan. I do commend his program to you on the Nat'l Geographic Channel. Basically, what he says is that a dog will always tend to follow its pack leader. And that should be you. Dogs NATURALLY follow their pack leader. You should not be afraid to take on that role but you must do it with your priorities in this order: EXERCISE, DISCIPLINE and T H E N AFFECTION. Your dog MUST have exercise and be able to "go out" with you. It has always been their nature to go somewhere, to walk, to hunt, to have a job or assignment. To remain listless in the yard is depressing and boring, leading to either pychological disorder or destructive behavior out of boredom or both. Dogs respect being able to gain things by certain behaviors, the result of discipline. But it must be on their level and done with patience and calm assertiveness, as Cesar says. Last, we give them affection. It is the reward for proper behavior. But we must remember NOT to humanize them. They are dogs, a different species. They have been bred and modelled after our own desires to be what we want them to be, to look like we want them to look like, but they still are not human as much as we pretend. They are our best friends, however, and no animal has a better bond to humans. They rescue us in disassters, lead the blind, help us find explosives or drugs and now can even detect cancer in our bodies. Most of all, they are great companions, never caring about how we look, always forgiving and always thrilled to see us when we return home. |
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