When dogs live in our home with us as family members, they are part of a social group which may contain other dogs, children, additional pets, and visiting guests.
As human leaders, it is our resposibility to raise both our dogs and children to be functional, balanced, and safe members of society. This is first learned at home before we ever go out into the "real" world where we have less control over what other beings might do when we encounter them.
Although I do recommend training a dog and teaching specific commands and behaviors through the use of positive reinforcement based methods, there are some areas where we are directing and addressing behaviors in a more "social" way.
One of the primary functions of a leader in our dog's life (once we have already seen to their basic needs for food, shelter, nurturing youngsters, and companionship) is to teach them social skills including which behaviors are appropriate, and which are not.
A boundary line can be drawn with a word, eye contact, and/or a body block without ever touching the dog, unless the dog is already very messed up and does not respect humans as leaders.
Many trainers and owners naturally find they use "eh" or "eh-eh" as a verbal boundary of "stop what you are doing", "don't go there", or "don't go past this point".
What fascinates me about this, is this seems to be a natural and universal thing to do. I think some mothers just use this very instinctively.
Cesar has mentioned that he uses "shhh", because that was what his mother used. He uses "hey" as a more serious tone. I thought "shhh" was very weird when I first heard it, and then I realised it was his version of "eh" or "eh-eh". But I also use "hey" as my more serious tone.
I find that most of the dogs I've worked with understand this form of communication almost instinctively. The ones I've worked with who do not respect humans, have not been taught boundaries, and have never heard this before usually catch on very quickly.
A body block, eye contact, a slight bump with the leash, or a touch can also communicate a boundary from what I've personally experienced.
I find it is easier to set a boundary, than it is to teach a specific command. I am not asking the dog for a specific behavior in the strictly training sense. I am communicating a boundary of "stop what you are doing", "don't go there", or "don't move past this point" in a more social way as the dog's leader.
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