Shunishment.

Meet Omar!

He's a super cute Shepard mix that has successfully completed our Zen Dog Puppy Classes. During our in-home visit with Omar and his family we discovered that Omar's owner had retained most of the material from puppy class and possessed a good understanding of those techniques. Omar's extreme curtness however, was particularly distracting and made it rather easy for Omar to regress back to old habits.

A brief review of motivators and a reminder about timing, helped pave the road to more advanced methods of training for Omar and his family. First off, Omar needed to learn how to become independent of constant attention and Omar's owner needed to practice averting her adoring gaze when his behavior became very demanding. When ignored, Omar would gently mouth or nudge his owner for attention. In these situations it's best to remove all forms of attention -- this includes dirty looks and scolding! Don't give in until your dog gives up. Your dog will come to understand the connection between his behavior and your lack of reaction.

If your dog is like Omar and is used to getting your attention when being demanding, then he may resort to more extreme behavior like mouthing. Even gentle mouthing cannot be ignored, so we taught Omar's owner how to play Out of the Pack. This is a way for Omar's owner to indicate that his behavior is unacceptable and that she won't tolerate it. Remember, when you suddenly change the rules, your dog will be confused at first and may act out of frustration. Be Patient and consistent; pretty soon you'll see the light bulb go on!

For more information on Shunishment and Zen Dog Games, visit Zen Dog Training Online.