Very often, a dog has heard the word ‘no’ so many times that it becomes white noise and is totally ignored and this is why I prefer the use of a word that is not used in our daily conversation such as ‘uhuh’, poofy etc. It does not matter what word you use as long as it is not part of your daily conversation.
Additionally, it is very difficult to tell our dogs to do nothing! You may be able to say to your children ‘please don’t walk on the tiles, I just washed them’, but your dog would not understand a word of this. When you start using the NRM system, you tell your dog ‘uhuh’, I don’t like that behaviour, followed immediately with ‘good boy/girl’ the second the pup/dog stops the behaviour. You are now opening up excellent lines of communication and your dog knows exactly what is acceptable and what is not.
IThe beauty of having a cue such as ‘uhuh’ is that you can control the volume of same and the manner in which you say it with your voice. It is always better to talk to a dog in a soft voice, and use the loud voice for when the dog has really misbehaved.
What is very important, is to bring in the use of the NRM while the dog the dog is engaged in the inappropriate behaviour, even a few seconds after the event is too late and the dog will not relate the NRM to the past behaviour. Remember to always praise (quietly) when the dog stops.
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