Thursday Tip: New Year’s Resolutions It’s that time of year again – the New Years is here and so we are all ready to make New Year’s resolutions and are full of motivation to stick to them. It might be that you have decided to start doing more exercise. Or maybe you want to learn a foreign language. Or maybe you would like to start training your dog again on a regular basis. Here at Pets in Practise we would like to encourage all pet owners to make a very simple resolution this year: to be nice to your pet and other pet owners. And here is why. Being nice to your pet by only using positive training methods and behaviour modification techniques has many benefits. Firstly, it makes training or rehabilitation a pleasant process for your pet – there is no yanking, shouting, scaring them into submission etc. – all you need to do is use food, toy play, praise and any other reward that motivates them to encourage them to work for you. It is actually more enjoyable for you too – after all there are few things that feel better than making your dog’s tail wag or your cat purr contentedly. By using positive training methods you are also very unlikely to make your dog develop behaviour problems such as defensive aggression – unfortunately this cannot be guaranteed by punishment-based training, which can often lead to your pet’s behaviour getting worse, and not better; while there are actually very few risks of reward based training and behaviour modification – well, maybe your pet getting a bit rotund if you’re not careful about what treats you use! But being positive shouldn’t stop there, and if you’ve ever been subjected to verbal abuse from other dog owners you will agree that it is not a pleasant experience and we do need to be nicer to one another. So next time when you feel like shouting at someone whose dog is uncontrollably jumping all over you or your pooch, try to politely explain that you would appreciate if they called their dog away. And if they do, don’t forget to thank them. And conversely, if you are asked to call your dog away, instead of saying “It’s fine he/she is friendly” just recall him/her or clip the lead on for a few minutes. We can guarantee you that the other owner will be very, very grateful. By simply being nice, and not confrontational, towards other pet owners, we stand a better chance of them cooperating with us, and doing what we would like them to do. So if you are looking for a New Year’s resolution, this might be one for you – be nice to your pet and other pet owners. After all, it’s really nice to be nice :) All the best in the New Year from the Pets in Practise Team!
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 12:12:53 +0000
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