Say "Yes" to the Dog!

Why saying “No” doesn’t work

One of my favourite walking places had security guards with dogs all summer. Apparently they’re there to stop people swimming in the lakes — although they’re still there now and it’s really not open-water-swimming weather any more.

So a couple of times a week I’d pull up by the security guard’s van, smile, make small talk about the weather and how he works too much (seriously, the same guy was there three weeks running with no breaks), and unload a bundle of three very excited dogs right next to his van. One of them is still a puppy, and she does the best Chewbacca impression — when she doesn’t get her way — on this side of the galaxy.

Going past the van with my jolly lot has resulted in the security dogs barking, every single time, the guard shouting “No,” the dogs stopping for a second or two (probably just drawing breath), and the barking starting straight back up. Every. Single. Time.

Now think about it from the dog’s perspective. We often say “No” or “ah-ah” when we don’t want a dog to do something, but we don’t tell them what to do instead, or what’s actually wanted in that moment.

“No” might stop the behaviour for a second, because the dog’s startled — but it doesn’t solve anything, because the dog still has no idea what they’re meant to do.

Saying no when your dog jumps up

Let’s take a dog who jumps up — at family, when they want something, at visitors arriving, at people they meet on walks.

Most of the time, when a dog jumps up, they’re after attention. So saying “No” is actually feeding the exact thing they’re after — negative attention is still attention. Is the dog going to stop jumping up? Unlikely.

What if instead we teach the dog to sit when they see someone new — or even just four paws on the floor, and make that genuinely rewarding? That’s a lot more likely to work, if you put the effort in.

When one of my own dogs does something I’d rather they didn’t, I always ask myself: what do I want them to do instead? And I make that behaviour worth their while — like giving my adolescent terror (typo, I meant terrier) chicken for sitting, instead of humping my middle-aged Labrador.

The security dogs are still there, still barking, and the handler’s still shouting “No” — though he has added “Quiet!” to his repertoire.

If there’s a behaviour your dog does that you’d like to stop saying “No” to, get in touch: info@dogsbedogs.co.uk