DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DO "NO”!?

It’s natural to automatically correct our dogs for unwanted behaviour by saying — “No,” “Stop it,” “Be quiet”, without giving it much thought.

It’s easy to tell dogs what not to do, but how can they possibly know what we want them to do instead, if we don’t show them and teach them how to succeed?

When we replace corrections with wanted alternatives, dogs begin to understand what works, feel less confused and frustrated, build trust and confidence in us, start to work it out for themselves and make better choices.

Sometimes the best option to prevent unwanted behaviour is by simply managing or making changes to the environment.

Baby gates or barriers to prevent access, visual barriers, clearing counter tops, not leaving food around, putting objects out of reach or providing more enrichment activities.

This isn’t about letting dogs do whatever they want, it’s about setting them up to get it right.

When we teach alternatives instead of just stopping behaviour, dogs begin to understand what works. When wanted behaviour is rewarded it’s far more likely to be repeated.

When we are about to say “No!” … stop and ask - what would I prefer my dog to do instead and focus on teaching that behaviour.

This is where real and lasting behaviour change begins.

Why?
Because there is no blank slate.

A rescued dog doesn’t arrive empty or neutral. They arrive already carrying history and recently they’ve had a lot of “new”. New for many rescued dogs is a lot to process and when every single sense they have is full trying to take in everything around them, feeling safe is very difficult to find.

New environment, new smells, new rules, new rhythms, new people. Even kindness can be totally unfamiliar to them and unfamiliar can be like a big ole hole in the “safety” bucket. We can fill it all we want with what we have read “helps”.
That security and safety is still leaking out, it doesn’t have time to sit and settle and yep, I suppose there is a safety sediment.

When we ask a dog to cope before they’ve even had a chance to settle, all they are doing is coping.
There is no settling.
Safety is what allows everything else to come later.

Safety looks like routines that don’t change, space that isn’t invaded and time where nothing is required of them.
Nothing at all.
It looks like letting a dog observe without participating and just "be" without performing.

And yes, it can feel slow. Unproductive.

It can also feel awkward.

I read a thread on a post in a rescue group and people that suggested keeping them quiet for a few days were often shut down.
“Do people do this? Why, that’s so boring for them”.
That’s the point, boring is safe and allows for stress levels to drop instead of being “topped” up.

“No way could I do that, she’s had months of living in that shelter”
That’s exactly why.
You want a dog to become part of your family, you’ve opened your heart and your home and now more hurdles are all around her. Climbing them can take a big toll.

Every single one of those people commenting had previous posts about the real difficulties they are facing and have been facing for a while.
All of those new experiences in the first few days can delay feeling safe.

You can’t rush settling.
But you can interrupt it.
Over and over again.