When In Doubt, Dogs Work It Out…To Their Advantage.

Dog’s don’t live in a vacuum. They are constantly learning about their environment and about us. They are watching and deciphering what they think we are trying to communicate to them, even though we may be unaware that we even ARE communicating to them! When unclear about what we are saying to them (and let’s face it, we usually use WAY more words than we need) they “listen” to our body language and tone of voice. Cues, cues and more cues! Your body language (cues) may be incongruous with your verbal commands (or even unintentional) causing your dog to be confused as to what behavior you prefer. When this happens, they shape their world to their best advantage. In other words, they will resort to whatever suits them. When in doubt, dogs work it out… to their advantage. [Read more…]