How to Bond with your Dog (5 Concrete Tips)
- Anja Boecker
- Updated: 25 January, 2023
How strong is the bond between you and your dog, really? An inseparably strong bond can save you a lot of stress in everyday life and make your life together even more beautiful. In this article, you’ll learn how to build a better bond and which mistakes you should avoid.
Why a Strong Bond Is So Important
The bond you share with your dog is something very special and shapes your communication and entire relationship. If this bond is not there, problems can arise in the education and behavior of an animal. Often, a dog is classified as difficult even though the right bond is the only thing lacking.
The relationship between you and your dog should be characterized by affection and mutual trust. This will strengthen your bond and make living together easier.
But a strong bond is also balm for the soul and gives you the feeling that you can communicate with your dog on one level. It's not for nothing that dogs and owners are often referred to as a "great team".
While the strong bond with your pet will make you feel good, your dog will also respond with eagerness to learn, motivation, and obedience. So building a good bond is enormously rewarding for both sides.
How Do I Recognize a Good Bond?
- Does your dog seek out your closeness and lull himself to safety with you?
- Does he never leave your side, even without a leash, or never take his eyes off you during his forays?
- Is your dog completely relaxed at home and can even stay alone for several hours at a time without any problems?
If yes,you are very lucky and have a strong bond with your dog! Your dog trusts you blindly and can rely on you at any time. He thanks you with body contact or shows himself especially motivated and willing to learn.
If you answered the questions partially or completely with "No then the bond with your dog is not yet as strong. But with a little practice, you two can become a "good team".
How you can Strengthen your Bond
Strengthening the bond with your dog is not always easy, but with a little practice and a certain amount of consistency, it's doable for anyone. To begin, your relationship should be built on four principles:
1. Affection and Love
Just like us humans, animals need a certain amount of affection and love. We're not necessarily talking about physical closeness such as cuddling, but rather frequent eye contact, affectionate words, or friendly body language. Even feeding can be a form of affection, if it comes in the form of treats, for example, or if your dog earns his food during a fun game.
2. Patience and Understanding
Patience is a virtue and should find a fixed place in your relationship with your dog alongside understanding. If your four-legged friend does not immediately carry out a command during a learning phase, then always remain patient and give him time. Puppies especially have difficulty understanding your wording right away and then fail to implement it. Just keep practicing and try to be understanding of your dog's longer learning phase.
3. Attention
Dogs have a finely tuned sense of their environment and especially of the mood of other creatures. If you want to strengthen the bond with your dog, you should train your own attention a little and meet your dog on his communication level. This way, you can interpret his body language and respond to his needs. If he gets tired quickly during training, for example, then he may be overwhelmed and you will know to reduce the workload.
4. Safety and Security
Unknown situations are a big challenge for every dog. To master them, dogs need the security of their owners. A dog that is forced to do things can never develop a self-confident nature and will always react with fear to certain situations. Rather, gently encourage your dog and guide him in his challenges with lots of praise.
What Requirements are Important.
Before you can strengthen your bond with your dog, certain conditions must be met. These can be found, for example, in the organization of your everyday life or in your personality.
Empathy
Every creature has its own special needs. Get to know your dog’s needs better and be ready to fulfill them! Even if you have to put your own needs on the back burner, if you show consideration for your dog, you will quickly gain his love and trust.
Fixed Daily Routine
Dogs like to orient themselves to fixed processes in everyday life. These give him security and protect them from stimulus overload. A dog that gets its food at fixed times will feel and act less restless. The same applies to regular walks, training, and play sessions at certain times of the day. A relaxed dog can also concentrate better on its owner.
Reliability
In addition to a fixed daily routine, your dog must also feel that he can fully rely on you. Trust is built on this reliability and thus forms the basis of a strong bond.
Stability
Your dog feels your insecurity. Only through a strong, calm appearance and consistent actions will you be able to offer him security, reliability, and trust.
Time
Every relationship takes time and so does the bond between you and your dog. If you don't give this process time, you’ll be losing from the beginning! If you are just getting to know each other, you should be especially cautious that you don’t demand too much and let events take their course. It’s a good idea to take a vacation during the first few weeks and refrain from time-consuming appointments, hobbies, or visits to friends and family.
Why Doesn't My Dog Trust Me?
There are only two possibilities why your dog doesn't trust you:
Either you have not yet been able to build up trust in each other or your dog has lost trust in you. The latter is the more difficult situation and can only be remedied through intensive trust training. On the other hand, it is possible to prevent your dog from losing trust in you.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Togetherness is Everything
Many dogs go through their environment stress-free and are happy to just accompany their owners everywhere. But during shopping trips, large family celebrations, visits to crowded restaurants, and other fun stops it's better to leave your dog at home and give him some peace and quiet.
No Protection From Other Dogs
Thinking that dogs will sort issues out among themselves has destroyed many bonds between dog and owner. If your dog trusts you, he also puts his safety in your hands and expects protection from you in dangerous situations. So if you notice that your dog would rather avoid an encounter, do not force it and gain distance. Likewise, you should be able to get your dog out of a dog encounter by safely calling him off. In both cases, you avoid escalation and offer your dog protection and safety.
"I Am the Boss!"
On the whole, you control your dog's life. Nevertheless, you should always meet your dog on his level and not look down on him. Just as the unpopular boss at work may affect you with his demands, you affect your dog with subordination rituals and punishments. Give your dog the chance to make decisions in favor of his needs and he will thank you with full confidence.
"My Dog Knows Exactly What I Mean."
If this sentence is preceded by a command that was not executed, then the opposite is actually true. Don’t get stressed or frustrated, because emotions do not make the situation better. Neither will repeating the command loudly and several times in a row. In the future, create clearer communication, reward the dog for correct behavior, and correct him for misbehavior.
5 Tips on How to Concretely Build the Bond
1. Rules for More Safety
For a strong bond, your dog needs not only solid structures in everyday life, but also clear rules. You should always be predictable for your dog so he can orientate himself to you and always feel safe. Inconsistency is absolutely out of place here! As soon as your dog notices that you constantly change your opinions, he will no longer take you seriously.
2. Tone of Voice and Body Language in Harmony
If you want to set boundaries for your dog, your body language and tone of voice should match. Your dog will not take a "no" seriously if you remain disinterested on the sofa. In this case, you should stand up in front of your dog and maintain firm eye contact. The same applies to praise, which should always sound sincere and never half-hearted.
3. Respect
Respect is the most important aspect of a relationship between man and dog. Always behave lovingly towards him and take his needs to heart. Give him enough rest after a training session and keep him away from overstimulation. Violence, outbursts of rage, and emotional fluctuations do not belong in your relationship under any circumstances!
4. Understand Dog Language
Always pay attention to what your dog wants to tell you through his posture and respond to him accordingly. By playing together and doing other activities, you will learn your dog's behavior better and avoid misunderstandings in your communication.
5. Maintain a Sense of Achievement
We humans love a sense of achievement and build our entire consciousness and interpersonal relationships on it. The same is true for your dog and your shared experiences. If off-leash walks are a success, then they will be remembered positively for a long time.
Conclusion
Bonding with your beloved dog is an important task. You should work on it as early as possible. I hope we helped you in this article and provided some helpful tips for bonding better with your dog.
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My name is Anja Boecker and I am a dog trainer and behavior consultant (IHK certificate). With these articles I would like to help you understand your dog better and build an inseparable bond.
