Why You Should Never Yell At Your Dog

According to a study released in 2019, aversive training can have long-term negative effects on your dog's mental state.

"Our results show that companion dogs trained with aversive-based methods experienced poorer welfare during training sessions than dogs trained with reward-based methods" the study stated.

Your Dog Will Struggle to Understand

Your dog does not understand the words you are yelling but will understand the aggressiveness and anger. This is especially true when the bad behavior is something your dog has already moved on from. All negative behavior is better addressed when caught in the act, but yelling will not build good behavior habits.

Your Dog Can Become Fearful of You

Your anger can build fear in your dog if he starts to associate those feelings with you as a person. Any bonds and relationships you have with your pet can be weakened with fear. Training your dog can also become more difficult if your dog is afraid of you and not able to focus on the tasks at hand.

Yelling May Actually Encourage or Excite Your Pet More

If your dog is exhibiting excited behavior like barking, aggressive play, or jumping up on people, you may just excite them more by yelling. Your yelling is barking right back at them. This can make them excited and encouraged them to bark even more.

Your Dog May Start Hiding This Behavior

Whatever the bad behavior may be, yelling at your pet for doing it may encourage them to practice this behavior when you are not around. Encouraging them to do the correct behavior, instead of making them fear you seeing the incorrect one will help them build the habits you want.

It Is Not Good For Your Dog’s Health, or Yours

Shouting and yelling at your pet is stressful for the pet, for you, and for your family.  Help reduce everyone’s anxiety but taking a deep breath and counting slowly to five.

What Can You Do Instead of Yelling at Your Dog?

Dogs have been proven to learn effectively from reward-based training. There is a lot of information available, but some easy-to-follow instructions are available from Deborah Lee Miller-Riley.

The duty of every dog owner is to foster physical, emotional and mental growth; protect their dog from danger; and to establish and enforce rules for safety and social order.

 

We wish you many happy years with your Pet.