By Adam Katz
Many people who’ve adopted older dogs— especially stray dogs ordogs from the animal shelter— assume that their dog has beenabused in the past.
So, how do you train an abused dog?
Let’s get right to the heart of the matter and state that— inorder to learn how to train an abused dog, we need to firstdefine what an abused dog is:
Of course, there are all types of different abuse. Everythingfrom a dog being hit with a hammer to a dog simply being leftand ignored in the back yard for months or years can constituteabuse.
But for the purposes of this article, we’re going to define anabused dog as any dog that shows specific signs of extremetimidity in response to regular behavior by you. I.E., Petting,grooming, feeding, walking, etc…
These are what you might call “high-functioning” abused dogs. Incontrast to dogs that have been used (for example) in laboratoryexperiments. Or dogs that have been physically scarred andwounded. Working with such dogs is (or should be) clearlyoutside of the scope of this article.
So— How do you work with a “high functioning” abused dog? Andhow do you teach your dog to relax and enjoy life?
The answer can be found in starting obedience training along thelines of the principles I’ve outlined in my book (which you canread more about at):
I can hear it already, “But Adam—you advocate using a leash andtraining collar when you train a dog, and my little, shy “Muffy”already wets himself when I bend over to pet him…
[ALERT: I’m about to make a broad GENERALIZATION:]
In general, most “high functioning” abused dogs continue todisplay timid behavior because they are unclear as to whenthey’re doing the RIGHT thing and when they are doing the WRONGthing.
If you follow my approach to dog training, your dog quicklylearns-- or more specifically, you learn-- how to communicatewith your dog in a way that will make him relax and know whenhe’s doing something wrong and when he’s doing something right.
And what I’ve found with these dogs is that they quickly learnto become much more confident and self-assured through theprocess. Why? Because when you use intelligent dog trainingtechniques, your dog is now clear about what’s going to happenand when, in a world he formerly had no guidance or clearleadership. He learns what is good behavior and what is badbehavior—instead of having to guess!
----------------------------------------------------- You readthat right: The #1 Reason That Dogs Who’ve Been Abused In ThePast Continue To Show Extreme Timid Behavior Is Because They AreConfused. -----------------------------------------------------
Once your learn how to communicate with your dog, and take awaythe confusion, you will see all the extreme timid behaviordisappear! And the way to do this is to start intelligentobedience training.
“But should I use the leash and collar to correct my dog, ifhe’s got such a soft temperament?”
The answer is: Yes.
Which begs the question of how firmly you should correct yourdog—which is something that differs from dog to dog.
Here’s a hint: You’ll figure it out by practicing with your dog.(If you haven’t already, please review the: Three Keys ToSuccessful Behavior Modification chapter in my book). However,the issue is not “Should I correct a dog that has been abused inthe past” but rather “When I’m communicating to my dog when he’sdone something incorrectly—how firmly should I correct him?”
And the answer to this question is: Only firmly enough toextinguish the unwanted behavior and communicate to the dog thathe shouldn’t do it again. Like I mentioned: You’ll learn this bypracticing with your dog. If you employ the concepts of timing,consistency and motivation—you’ll have nothing to worry aboutand your dog will gain confidence and self-assuredness from yourefforts
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