6 Ways To Improve Your Bond With Your Dog

By Hope Bidegainberry on May 2, 2020

Dogs are our best friends. But you might be getting frustrated lately because they aren’t listening to simple commands or ignoring you. 

Here are 6 ways to improve your bond:

• Study up on body language
  • Happy – relaxed posture
  • Worried – dog avoids eye contact
  • Very Stressed – trembling, in a crouched position
• Get to know your dog’s likes and dislikes
  • Just like humans, dogs have their personal dislikes and likes. Some dogs enjoy cuddling while others prefer to have space. Some love a game of fetch while would would rather play tug. Knowing your dog’s individual likes and dislikes, and then respecting them, is key to connecting with your dog.
• Train your dog everyday
  • Improving your connection is to work on training every day and using positive reinforcement. Exercising your dog’s brain to learn something new and providing rewards for successes is a great way to increase trust and joyful experiences.
• Set up your dog for success
  • Asking your dog to do a difficult trick and withholding rewards until he gets it right only increases the amount of frustration you both feel and decreases the amount of fun. Instead, break a trick down into small, accomplishable pieces that your dog can build on, and reward your dog for each successfully completed step.
• Be the source of all life’s necessities and goodies
  • If you want your dog to hang on every work, then be the soul source of all the goodies like food and toys. If you are free-feeding your dog, put away the food bowl. If toys are scattered around the floor, hide them in the closet. These things are rewards that are earned, and your dog is going to be much more attentive if you are a walking goodie dispenser.
• Spend one-on-one time every day
  • Make sure you spend time focused on just your dog every day. You’re not distracted by your phone of in the yard when you’re gardening. One-on-one time is 30 minutes or more of time spent playing brain games, grooming, going on an interactive walk, and even talking with your dog.