B.O.W.O.W. TRAINING
(Body Only Without Words)

One of the challenges we face when training our dogs is communicating what we want from them without repeating ourselves.  Until they understand the meaning of the cue it makes no sense repeating it over and over, which is usually what we do.  This only serves to frustrate our dogs, teach the to ignore you, stress them out, or at best--teach them to wait until they hear the cue multiple times before responding does it.  You want a behavior the first time you ask for it!

​

To teach a new cue, I use hand signals, and engage my whole body to some degree.  This is the easiest way for our dogs to learn since they are so tuned in to our body language anyway.  It helps to keep their attention focused on us as they learn to watch for our signals.

​

So in addition to treats and toys, in B.O.W.O.W. training, we use our hands, our facial expressions, our body movements, and our leashes.  Of course the voice plays a very important role in training but when first teaching a cue, I typically encourage using no voices at all.  No names, no reprimands, no verbal commands -- complete silence.

​

Before you even pick up a treat, you should be aware of the power you hold within your own body.  We use our hands and bodies to lure them, our soft eyes and smiles to encourage and delight them, and our uplifting voices to reward and excite them.   Training dogs should be fun. The satisfying result of positive training, is to have better communication with our dogs.  
Ultimately, we all want to be understood, right?  …and so do they.

​

*except from APDT’s “Chronicle of the Dog” article written by Michelle Rizzi