12/09/12 15:12 Filed in:
child development | discipline
Conor is now 11 months old and as he gets into more stuff, I started wondering if it's okay to start disciplining him. Studies seem to point to just baby proofing the home for now - covering up the electrical outlets, putting the breakable stuff out of reach, blocking 'off limits' places with baby gates and the like. It's okay to give your baby some boundaries but redirection is key and not correction at this tender age. Experts favor just enjoying and appreciating Conor's fascination with the world.
I like that idea but with a dog in the mix, there's some rules that Conor's just going to have to learn. And the dog's crate being off limits is one of them. So we set out to teach Conor to leave things alone that aren't his. It's as simple as saying in a different tone of voice that gets his attention, "That's not yours," when he tries to go into the dog's bed. It's actually fun as you can see in the video. He doesn't take the rule as a correction. He sees it as fun but knows the rule is to stay away from the crate.
I learned this technique when training dogs for the handicapped years ago. We were actually told not to say, "No" to our dogs because there was too much negative baggage wrapped up in this word and it came out in the way we said it to our dogs. Instead, we told our dogs, "Don't" because it wasn't as emotionally charged. The idea is that you give your dog a command. It's not telling the dog he's done something wrong, it just tells the dog to do something you want. If he doesn't do it, then he gets corrected. I took this idea to Conor's training and when we tell him to do something or not do something, it's always fun. By being consistent, he knows we mean what we say. Now I have to remind myself that he's only 11 months old and while it works right now, it might not always work. But it's working right now and that's what matters. Tags: child development, discipline, dog training