Dog training can be a frustrating experience. When your dog seems to be ignoring or deliberately disobeying your commands and you are the type to get angry, you could do more harm than good. They must respect you if they are to heed your demands.

If that respect is gone, you will be seen as a weak leader. Dogs respond to body language including that which is displayed when you are angry. Dogs need strong leaders. If they don’t find them, they will take on the role themselves.

While in a state of frustration, you are not going to be thinking as logically as you would if you were calm and relaxed. Shouting at your dog or, heaven forbid, hitting him will only make your dog fearful of you.

A fearful dog can adopt more problem behaviors, such as urinating in submission or cowering from you.

It’s not always easy to stay calm when you see that your dog just chewed up your expensive leather coat or relieved himself on your heirloom Indian carpet.

During dog training sessions, anger can lead you to become harsh with your dog and even unreasonable.

If your dog hasn’t grasped the lesson in 10 minutes, chances are he isn’t going to unless he gets a break.

Dogs Respond Best to Calm and Assertive Energy

Here’s a great tip that will help you and your dog:

Make sure your training sessions are no longer than 10 minutes each. If you work him too long each time, he will become agitated and stressed. Whether or not your dog has learned the lesson, take a break and do something different with him.

Give him and you a chance to relieve the tension and stress. Play fetch or catch-me-if-you-can. Dogs love these games and they enable your dog to release a lot of pent-up energy.

If you arrive home to devastation, get calm, not angry. Walk out of the room without paying any attention to your dog. He will know from that action alone that something is wrong. It is not necessary to tell him he’s been bad.

Clean up the mess without looking at him or talking. Only after the area has been cleaned and you have given yourself chance to calm down can you interact with your dog.

Dogs have a relatively short attention span. Your dog will not make the connection between the mess on the floor and your angry response. By the time you arrive home, it’s too late to tell him he was bad.

Find out why he was destructive in your presence and resolve it. Chances are, he was suffering from separation anxiety or just plain bored.

Take action to help him overcome his behavior. Practice leaving and returning over the period of a few weeks. Leave for shorter periods and if he’s been good, praise him on your return.

Repeat this for increasingly longer periods. This will work much better than getting angry at the mess – and your dog.

Regardless of how your dog reacts, dogs really do want to please their leaders. This dog training tip is worth remembering next time his behavior frustrates or angers you.