Getting a new dog is an exciting time for every dog owner. However, getting to know your dog well and building a long-lasting relationship with your dog can be a long process. This requires various strategies that need to be applied for you to be an effective dog owner.
When your dog does not get the proper care and attention that it needs, negative behavioural issues will occur, such as barking, chewing, house soiling, and inadequate response. If the dog bears feelings of isolation and confusion, it cannot bond with its owner fully and crave attention. Your dog will get bored and will have a lack of mental stimulation.
The love and relationship between you and your dog develop naturally, but the bonding process usually takes time and attention to grow. It does not happen overnight. Remember that the bonding with your dog has nothing to do with the dog’s age, color, or breed. One great thing about dogs is that they can build a strong bond with you and the whole family. The genuine bond with the dog starts as soon as the dog joins the family. A great bond will help you to build a strong foundation of the relationship with your dog.
You may follow these steps if you wish to have a solid and long-lasting bond with your dog:
Spend time with your dog
More than foods and toys, many dogs would want your time. There are a lot of ways that you can do to spend time with your dog. You can even hit two birds in one stone by enjoying your favourite activities while spending time with your dog. For instance, you can watch your favourite movie while petting your dog, read one of the best-selling books while reading it out loud, or listen to your favourite music and sing it to your dog.
Aside from these activities, you can opt to have a complete vacation with your dog. This will also help alleviate any anxiety that your dog might have, especially when you leave them at home the whole day. Spending quality time with your dogs can help them get a calm demeanour, and they will see you as the one bringing joy to their life.
Do some tricks
As an owner, you need to know how to do some tricks to your dog to teach them the basics of good household manners like go, stop, sit, and stay. This will help you correct your dog’s unwanted behaviour calmly and consistently without being abusive verbally and physically. Moreover, tricks can enhance your dog’s ability and hone your skills as a trainer, all while having a good bonding together.
This builds in mutual respect while the dog understands the boundaries and what constitutes good behaviour. This way, the dog learns to trust the owner, and the owner gets to earn the respect of the dog by strengthening their bond. Be mindful that their attention span is limited, so you must think of tricks that will cause them to focus on everything that you want them to do. Hence, developing solid communication with your dog is essential in doing tricks and bonding with them.
Exercise or go for a walk with your dog
Walking outside and exercising with your dog will not only help you breathe some fresh air, get in shape, and maintain a healthy body, but it is also an effective way to bond with your dog. With everything your dog might get when going outside, they can also benefit you as they can stimulate you mentally and helps relieve your stress. This activity can just take about 30 minutes of your time. Since your newly adopted dog might still be unfamiliar with the area, be sure to give them extra time to explore and check out all the exciting new sights and smells that they will encounter in your house and around the neighbourhood.
Moreover, going for a walk with your dog will help the dog be exposed to various things to be easy-going and adapt to the new environment. Your daily exercise routine will give your dog a chance not only to bond with you but to meet new dogs around as well. This is especially important for the type of dogs who have not even been socialized before.
Encourage the behaviors that you like
Just as humans need to be rewarded and acknowledged for the things they do; your dog deserves to be praised and rewarded for their good behaviours. Let them know that you approve with verbal praise or affection. When your dog waits patiently for you when you’re preparing for dinner; sits nicely as you put on his leash before taking him out; stops running around when you told him to stop; those are the best time for you to let him know how great he is.
By communicating clearly with your dog that he is doing something good, you can encourage him to repeat those desired behaviours later. At the same time, you have to let your dog know the rules by helping him familiarize with your preference while giving him his own space and enough time to adjust. You just have to stay patient and positive.
Play games and give the dog some reward
Playing with a dog is something more than just tiring him out. Playing with your puppy is an excellent way to speed the bonding process and reinforce the idea that you bring fun. Therefore, you must try to be creative and surprise your dog with unique games so that he never knows what you’re doing next. This is one of the funniest ways to bond with your dog because most dogs are always ready to play the moment they come home.
Playing simple games such as chase and fetch will make your dog excited, which means that you can also bond well with your dog. Since you are the one who chooses the games that you and your dog will play as well as set the rules, this will help to establish your credibility as a leader so your dog will easily acknowledge you as his owner. When you notice that your dog is getting difficult to manage, you can simply stop the game until your dog calms down again.
Bottomline
Ways on how to bond with your dog are not limited to the ones mentioned here. These are just some of the various ways that you can explore along the way. There are countless tricks and strategies that you can try to your dog to have a stronger bond with him.
Dogs thrive on an unpredictable schedule; instead of doing the same thing every day, it would be a great idea to switch up your routine and try a different approach. Hence, unpredictability will also help strengthen your bond with them. It is important to remember that interaction is a great factor that creates the bond between the owner and the dog. Therefore, you must do what it takes to have a long-lasting relationship with your dog and be the best dog owner that you can be.
If you want to learn more on how to bond with your dogs and other related topics on dog safety, book a 1-on-1 training session with Jay by clicking here. Stay updated on our latest blog posts and news articles by subscribing to our newsletter. You can also share your thoughts and engage in a conversation with other members by joining our community!
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