Use Sounds and Not Words to Talk to Your Dog
Bruce Edwards
Have had many excellent professional work experiences. Now enjoying retirement!
You are probably reading the title of this article and wondering "What the heck is he talking about?" When we talk to other humans, sounds come out of our mouth in the form of a language. A language is a complicated conglomeration of sounds and nuances that create advanced communication. The sounds can be broken down into bits and pieces called words. Words, based on how they are used, can mean multiple and often opposite things.
"Sounds", on the other hand, are things like a car horn beeping, a siren on an ambulance, or a clock alarm. When we hear those sounds, it always means one thing and one thing only. We react in the same way to those sounds every time we hear them.
When dogs verbalize or when they hear verbalization from others, they are interpreting the information coming into their ears as sounds that mean one thing and one thing only. We need to be aware of this difference in their interpretation and our interpretation of "things coming into our ears" so that we will know and why our dogs react.
We must speak to our dogs in sounds and not words so that everything we say is clear and indisputable. We have a great article that helps clarify this. Please take a look at our article on "Talk to Your Dog in Sounds" to learn more.