Cat Care Clinic

Posted on: 3 June 2015

If you're having problems training your new puppy, it might have something to do with your tone of voice. Puppies don't understand the words you're using, so they have to rely on the tone you use. If you're using the wrong tone, your puppy won't understand the message you're trying to convey.

Your puppy might stop a behavior when you yell. However, it probably stopped because you scared it, not because it understood. More than likely, the puppy will repeat the behavior once it forgets that you scared it. Proper training begins with proper tone. Here are three tones you should be using when training your new puppy.

Encouraging

When you want to encourage your puppy, it's important that you use a tone that invokes encouragement. A soft soothing tone will help your puppy feel happy and content. Use this tone when your puppy has done something praiseworthy, like followed a command properly or asked to go outside.

Commanding

When you're teaching your puppy new commands, you should use a tone that is clear and concise. Stand up straight and issue the command in a tone that emotes authority. It's never a good idea to bend over when issuing a command to your puppy.

When you bend over, you use body language that tells your puppy you're ready to play. Once your puppy responds to your command, revert to the encouraging tone. This will reinforce the message that it has performed properly.

Disciplining

The tone you use for disciplining should be completely different from the other tones you use with your puppy. This will allow it to fully understand that its behavior is unacceptable. Use a tone that you would use to tell your child not to do something. For instance, consider the tone that you would use to say "stay away from there." Use this tone whenever you need to discipline your puppy.

Consistency

If there are several people in your household, it's important that each family member utilize the same tone of voice when dealing with the new puppy. This will help your puppy understand that they must behave properly for every person in the family.

Now that you have a new puppy, you're going to need to train it properly. Using the right tone of voice will help make the training go more smoothly. If your puppy continues to exhibit problem behavior, you should discuss the matter with your veterinarian. They'll be able to provide you with additional assistance.

For more information, contact Covington Veterinary Hospital PC or a similar location.