Another type of problem in relationships with dogs, apart from inexperience, is the difficulty in relations in general. If it is already difficult between a person and another, so much more between people and animals! This relationship problem can be resolved through training, which aside from being a good channel in which the natural instincts of our dog can converge, it can without doubt help us understand better its language and as a result teach us to learn its threats or make us understand its requests. Unfortunately, it usually ends up that the weakest loses and so children end up being bitten. In Germany the SV (German organization for the training of the breed) has published a small book which is distributed to children in the biggest exhibitions. In this publication, 12 golden rules are stated in order not to be bitten or at least: to maintain a relationship with the dog without any conflicts, we can summaries these rules as:
-treat the dog as you would like to be treated, respect it and you will be respected.
-don’t approach a dog that you do not know even if it seems harmless without being informed by the owner of its good disposition.
-remember that by instinct a dog grabs everything that is waved in front of it, this attitude is a definite predatory instinct and is one of its most ancestral instincts.
-don’t ever look the dog in eye since this can be taken as a sign of challenge.
-don’t bother it, above all, by taking it by the tail which the dog would interpret as a desire from the child’s part to be subdued.
-don’t ever disturb a dog while it is eating, the dog would interpret every gesture as an attempt to steal its food and will rightly react with all the aggression of one who wants to defend its well-earned meal.
-when playing with a dog, take care not to put the hands near the teeth since the dentition of a dog is made for a determined function that, even unintentionally, can do serious damages to a child.
-don’t ever try to separate two fighting dogs for two different reasons:
The first is that in conflicts between dogs rarely do they fight to the death and in the end the weaker flees or is subdued.
The second reason is that with the adrenalin in the fighting dogs very high, they are no longer aware of their actions and would turn their aggression instinctively against the intruder.
-don’t ever flee from a dog, this action provokes the dog to stop you by using the only means it has, that is, its teeth.
-if people have hands, the dog only has its teeth to grab things and because of this every reaction to any stimulus puts this function in action.
-if you want to play with a dog make sure that there is always an adult nearby and play with it only after you’ve asked if it is possible.
-no dog is the same as another, even though belonging to the same breed is an index of common tedencies, still, each dog must be met with all the precautions that you reserve for a new acquaintance.

THE TRAINING:

Presupposing that every owner is not a novice, training one’s dog can be done by the owner himself, always that he doesn’t want a specific training for athletic purposes, civil protection, K-9 police squads, etc. A dog can be trained well even without receiving a high level of training. Some few and simple concepts are indispensable in order to have a useful, educated dog without traumatizing it with so much repression that can without doubt be damaging if the circumstances don’t require such measures. In dogs (in view of their group-animal nature), the quality of grasping the language and behavior of the members of their group is very strong because a tranquil cohabitation depends on this. Such innate disponibility is at the basis of the process of socialization and constitute the presupposed fundamental for every training exercise. For best results, the principal thing to maintain during your dog’s training is consistency: meaning, what is not correct today has to be taken up again and won’t be acceptable tomorrow or in other occasions. In this manner, the dog understands that what its master wants it to do should be done. In response, doing what the master wants will always be recognized with a compliment or a prize. The training is substantially a series of punishment and reward according to how the dog behaves. The punishment or reward must be given immediately after the misdeed or good action so that the dog can associate punishment or reward with its actions. In this manner, therefore, it learns.

If the dog pees inside the house, I cannot punish it when I come home since the dog won’t be able to understand why it was punished. Only in case I catch it peeing, do I have to immediately show my disapproval by punishing it. Substantially, these are the two principal rules that have to be implemented during training, that is, consistency and immediacy of the punishment or reward. The fact of allowing a dog to grow up wildly, free in a large garden means abandoning it and not allowing it the opportunity to understand our messages which means not giving it any models for its behavior and often these types of dogs become dangerous to man since they have an insufficient relationship with people. The training that produces the best results is that practiced from puppy hood, that is, from the moment the dog comes in to become part of the family. The dog must learn that every behavior disapproved by the family must not be repeated while every good behavior must be. Keep in mind the fact that the dog is always observing us and always remembers what happens in its presence.And then, the dog’s intelligence allows it to memorize past experiences and work out information and acquired knowledge and so to solve and surpass difficulties that hamper its intention to achieve a goal. Doing this, it will soon learn to understand what we want it to do and we will learn what it wants from us.