To Communicate with Your Dog, Make Your Timing Your Message

When you communicate with your dog about ANYTHING, your timing is your message.  That's because dogs are creatures of the moment - they live in a perpetual NOW.  To put it in practical terms think of it this way.  When two things happen together or in quick succession, your dog makes a mental connection between them. 

Sometimes the connection happens after only one experience: a puppy gets car-sick and after that one experience he's is afraid to get into the car again because he connects the car with feeling sick.  However, sometimes a connection grows in the dog's mind when the same thing happens again and again over time.  For example, if your dog picks up the sound of your car keys every time he goes for a ride in the car, then the sound of your car keys jingling will soon signal your dog that a car ride could be in his future. 

If you expect your dog to listen to you, remember that your timing is your message.  If your timing is off, the right connections don't happen and your dog gets a different message from the one you intended. 

It comes down to you being mentally disciplined enough to get the timing right.  It takes a bit of practice but working on this one thing will pay off. Imagine how satisfying it would be to see your dog's eyes light up with that "I get it!" expression!

Here's an example of what I mean. If you want your dog to stop doing something, like jumping on you, for example, then don't wait until the dog is already jumping on you. That's too late. Done deal. History. 

If your dog has learned to sit on cue, then teaching him not to jump on you is simple.  Use your sit cue to get your dog to sit when he thinks about jumping on you and before he follows through on the thought. 

You now have an opportunity to let your dog know that sitting instead of jumping on you is a way for him to get tons of positive attention from you.  That's all he wanted anyway when he jumped on you. So this simple redirect, with perfect timing, has resulted in a win-win outcome!

So how do you get the timing right? You can't turn back the clock, but you can interrupt your dog and redirect his behavior before he acts.  The best time to teach your dog not to jump on you is when he's thinking about jumping and before actually jumps! You have a very small window to act, so if you hesitate you'll miss your cue and lose the chance to redirect the dog before he jumps.

Did you find this information helpful? Download my free eBook to learn more ways to redirect your dog with perfect timing!

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