New pet owners may be concerned as to how they can train their dog to respect them and respond to commands.
Canine behaviourist Adem Fehmi has partnered with natural dog food brand Barking Heads to share his expert knowledge based on 20 years of experience.
Adem told The Mirror: "In my long-standing career as a dog behaviourist and trainer, I have found that when owners say they want their dog to 'respect' them, what they actually mean is that they want their dog to be well-mannered and follow commands, such as walking to heel or coming back when called.
"They may also want their dog to behave calmly at home or when out and about."
Adem shares four ways you can train your dog to listen and respond to you respectfully.
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Provide motivation
Just like humans, dogs like having an end goal and reward for their hard work.
"It is important that you have a good understanding of what motivates your individual dog, whether this is food, play or affection - or a combination of all of these things," Adem says.
"Then you can effectively reward the 'respectful' behaviours you desire, whilst ignoring the behaviours you do not desire.
"If your timing when giving the reward is effective, your dog should quickly be able to make a distinction between what you want to see from them and what you'd rather not."
Be consistent and patient
"Secondly, if we want our dog to follow commands, we must ensure that they understand those commands," Adem says.
"They can only understand them if they have been taught consistently and clearly."
Adem recommends regular positive reinforcement-based training to "help you build a stronger understanding of your dog and bond with them".
"This will in turn help them to learn your language and what to do when presented with certain command words, such as 'stay' or 'come'," Adem explains.
Don't reward every action
"When teaching commands, it is also important to consider how your dog is responding to these commands," Adem says.
"There is a difference between responding excitably and perhaps boisterously to responding calmly and with awareness of their surroundings.
"The latter is what most owners desire and would consider respectful.
"When you begin your training journey, it is perfectly okay just to look for your dog to perform the action.
"However to achieve what we may deem 'respectful' behaviour when progressing with training, it's important that you don't just reward the action correlating to a command, but also the dog's frame of mind and the way in which they perform the action.
"If we are wanting our dogs to be calm, relaxed and respectful, we need to only reward and reinforce this type of behaviour. Patience can be key here."
Be respectful to them
Our dogs watch and mimic our own actions, so it's important that we are respectful to them and create a balanced relationship.
Adem adds: "Being calm and respectful around your dog will also help to promote the same behaviour from them and help us to avoid unintentionally rewarding the behaviours we do not wish to see."
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