Communicating with your dog

We do not recommend using the word “no” in training your dog. Just yelling
“No!” at the poor dog for everything and anything will only confuse him and
make him neurotic. There is no exercise called “No.” Instead, be specific when
training your dog. Tell him what you want him to do rather than what you don’t
want him to do. If you don’t want him to jump on you, for example, tell him
to “Sit.”
Similarly, avoid (get out of the habit of ) using your dog’s name as a reprimand
or as a substitute for a command, because this just leaves the poor dog to try and
figure out what you want. Use the name of your dog to get his attention and then
follow with a command, such as “Felix, sit.” When you call your dog’s name, he
should consider it a pleasant experience.
Communicate with your dog in a positive manner. Listen to yourself when you
interact with your dog. Do you sound pleasant and positive, or unpleasant and
negative?
Instead of telling your dog what you
don’t want him to do, train him to
respond to specific commands so that
you can tell him what you want him to
do. Put him in a position where you
can praise him and tell him how good
he is.

Your dog is a dog
Your efforts to train your dog are
doomed to failure if you think he has human standards and reasoning abilities. He
certainly does not experience guilt. Blaming the dog because “he ought to know
better” or “he shouldn’t have done it” or “how could he do this to me” will not
improve his behavior. He also does not “understand every word you say”—if he
did, he would not need training.