Have you ever tried yelling at a dog over and over again when they won’t behave? It’s almost like they cannot hear you. You may be failing to back up your dominance with the body language and energy a dog needs to see. Raw anger rarely works in combatting a dog with obedience issues. Imagine what would happen if, whenever your children broke a rule, you yelled at them from another room without any visible consequences. Eventually, they would ignore you and start pushing their boundaries.

Dogs are similar in that they need to be shown that there are tangible reasons to respond to your commands. You need to show them with your body language and energy that you are in charge of the situation and you need to use cues that dogs understand to consistently put them back in their place in the pack. Empty punishment and yelling are not going to get either of those things done.

Communication is very important to dogs, but they don’t communicate the same way that we do. While you might be able to lie to your spouse and tell them you are okay when you are really angry, a dog will almost always know – picking up on cues in your body language, tone, and behaviour that correspond to your anger.

I once knew a dog owner who would often find the odd behavioural problems her dog exhibited funny. The dog would get confused and jump on the couch when he should not. He would bark at strange lights on the wall. He would occasionally bite pillows and chew up socks. She found it hilarious for some reason, so even when scolding the dog and attempting to show him that those behaviours were not okay, she was exhibiting body language that said she was actually amused. The dog would do it even more often then, because he thought it was a good thing. The words didn’t matter, nor did the tone of voice. It was the body language that communicated her true feelings to the dog.