I Told You To Don’t
I’ll never understand it. I won’t. I’ve tried and tried. But sorry, why do so many people constantly say, “NO” to their dogs and think the dog actually understands them? Just because a dog stops what he’s doing doesn’t mean he understands anything. And if I had to guess, it’s the way the, “NO” is said that interrupts the dog. (I mean come one, who says it all chipper and polite?) But training? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! There’s no difference whatsoever if I said, “Don’t think of pink elephants. Matter of fact, don’t think of a baby pink elephant riding a tricycle down your street right now.” And voilà! You’re probably not thinking about how the stock market is doing.
But seriously, I hear it all the time. “Well I told him NO.” How much info is in “NO” anyway? Is there anything at all, even remotely, driving your dog into the direction of behavior you want? Why so anti-yes? Why not tell the dog what to do instead?
It really is a choice. Saying, “NO” to temporarily stop a behavior with little to no learning, or telling the dog to do something he knows and reinforcing that behavior instead. One way (if done over and over again, over time) will damage the relationship between man and his best friend. The other will strengthen the relationship. Personally, I’d rather not have a dog who wants to take his ball and go find a new home.
Here’s an example. If there’s a smelly sock on the floor, and your dog is about to investigate it, you could say, “NO.” However, you could also say: leave it, sit, down, come, roll over, give me a paw, target, where’s your ball, want to go for a walk, let’s go bye-bye in the car, back up, spin, watch me, sit pretty, bow, heel…… and on and on. (As well as pick up your freakin socks). So, I suppose the sarcastic “down side” is the dog in question actually has to know a few behaviors first. It’s not cool to spout out, “finish” if you’ve never taught it. However, personally I think saying, “NO” is just as much as a “read my mind and what I want” as well.
Just say, “NO” to being anti-yes! Don’t tell your dog to “don’t.”
3 Comments to “I Told You To Don’t”
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By JJ, May 13, 2011 @ 5:55 pm
Dogs definitely don’t know English, but I can tell you my dog DOES, in fact, know what “No” means, just like she knows that “Purple” means “if you roll over for me, I’ll throw your ball for you.”
)
What does “no” mean to my dog?
It means, “Dear dog, that is not what I want, and you will not be rewarded for that.” It’s also said in a clam, business-like manner. My “no” is meant to be informative, not punishing.
Think of it this way: Say I ask my dog to sit, and she gets impatient (maybe is bored of the game of sitting) and gets up. I say “no” – that’s not what I want – and then “sit,” which is what I do want. (And then give her many cookies for complying and end the boring sit game.
Or if she’s learning something new, she looks to me for “yes” and “no” just like a game of “hot” and “cold.”
I think that if you’re yelling out NO!, it’s probably not helpful, but I think that it can be informative, and I promise my dear pup does not want to pack up her ball and go find someone new to play with. (Okay, she’ll play ball with ANYONE! but that’s not the point.)
Do you really think the word “no” is so terrible? Or is it just the yelling out of a word that contains no information – save for that mom or dad is NOT HAPPY…again…. – for the dog?
I just like it as a training tool. I guess it’s “try again” or “uh oh” … but (I used to use those) “no” is just faster to get out!
=]
Love the article. Hope this doesn’t come off as argumentative. (Or the last comment on your newer article =O Argumentative is not what I’m going for!!!)
By Jules Nye, May 31, 2011 @ 2:05 pm
I’m not a fan of no reward markers as they all too often turn into conditioned punishers. Negative punishment can create frustration in some animals who then “road rage” which if generalized can turn into an aggressive problem. I’ve even seen cases where the dog (or cat) will hide from the owner.
By Sarah Hoth, April 22, 2011 @ 10:52 am
Great article! I tell clients it’s like shouting the word “Banana,” and expecting the dog to know what the heck you are asking them to do. It wouldn’t be fair if we went to school and our teachers just said “do your homework” without teaching anything and then failed us. That’s not fair behavior, so how is it fair to our dogs?